Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 22 Sept  2015

India Taking Over Sri Lanka?

Why Fear when I am Here? says  Democratic Public Service

While the ‘Program’ part of  the Sri Lankan Government is discussing the latest UN report on Sri Lanka,  negotiations are underway to build the Bridge between Rameswaram in India and Mannar in Sri Lanka. Mannar is also the seat of ancient  Hindu temple Thiruketheeswaram. I have felt protected by the Power of Thiruketheeswaram when I was in that area physically including during the most dangerous periods of  the Sri Lankan war.  On one occasion I was at risk with a Navy officer who demonstrated behavior with women of the kind that the UN  report has included as follows at paragraph 36:

Sexual and gender-based violence

36. The information gathered by OISL provides reasonable grounds to believe that rape and other forms of sexual violence by security forces personnel was widespread against both male and female detainees, particularly in the aftermath of the armed conflict.  The patterns of sexual violence appear to have been a deliberate means of torture to extract information and to humiliate and punish persons who were presumed to have some link to the LTTE.

The young officer pointed his rifle at me when I crossed the road to buy some dinner. I had been to Thiruketheeswaram Temple to pray for our young nephew’s soul to merge with the Lord and perform the basics at Paalaavi river as part of this process. My prayers are largely based on deep faith / belief and ritually speaking – they show very little connection to tradition. Mannar was still suffering from the rape of young women, which attack was  reported as follows back then:

[“The atrocities of the Navy personnel in Mannar district are growing bad to worse daily. All my efforts to get the Navy to respect the basic human rights of the people so affected by the prolonged war are proving futile,” Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph Bishop of Mannar said in a statement issued after the women’s story broke in the press. ] Tamil Guardian

The above mentioned Navy Officer ‘gave me the looks’ at the checkpoint before we entered Mannar Town. I was put on a heavy vehicle by the Armed Personnel at Thiruketheeswaram – as there were no buses to go back to Vavuniya from Thiruketheeswaram area. The lady officer who did the body-search before I was allowed to go to the Temple said in Sinhalese ‘Parisamaing’ / ‘be careful’ / ‘look after yourself’. I appreciated that she cared about me – a lone woman going to the Temple in a high risk zone. That lady officer saw me as another lady and we had a silent communication about the dangers under such circumstances. But not so the young male Navy Officer  who kept drilling me until his senior officer arrived – took one look at me and asked me to go ahead to get my dinner.

I believe that had I been an LTTE supporter in my mind – I would have become a victim of that young officer that night. The reason is the Natural forces through which LTTE recruitment was done. Children in LTTE forces would have known nothing about Independence / Sovereignty. They were ‘used’ by LTTE supported by educated Tamils who would never have sent their own children to fight for ‘Independence’ / ‘Freedom’ but failed to condemn even within Tamil circles, the LTTE for doing so. Today we have the karma of a sea of orphans. Had I been an LTTE supporter in my mind – I would have naturally accepted such violence and hence lost the protection to my Sovereignty through myself.  Energy – whether it is gravitational and therefore close to ground level or beyond the influence of gravity and therefore is Universal as the Sky / Ether/Divine Energy. The former is known as Asurar (animal in us) )  and the latter as Thevar (Divinity in us)  in  Hindu philosophy. Once the causes of  our actions reach either state – we cannot control the effects. Hence in Mannar at that time if I had had LTTE in my mind – I would have invoked the rapist in that Navy man. One who is so invoked – is out of his uniform and stands as an individual. The Uniform that LTTE ought to have worn was the Tamil heritage of Education for children and not guns. They were therefore an association of individuals and not an institution representing Tamils wearing the Crown Jewel of Education.

Later a Tamil in plain clothes (I felt he was an officer working for the Government) sat next to me in the bus and questioned me. In the end he said words to the effect ‘why are you traveling by yourself’. Then he got up and went to the driver of the bus who stopped the bus soon after to put me in a bus that was going to Vavuniya. In that bus were the driver and the conductor – both Sinhalese – and myself and no one else.   I felt quite at home and started falling asleep. The Lesson there is that an individual who fails to respect her/himself as an officer would naturally invoke the base qualities in another who is taking a ‘position’ with her/him. If they are on the same side – they enjoy and often use the ‘officer-benefits’ to enjoy themselves. If they are on the opposite side – they have an animal fight.

In the Sunday Observer article ‘UNOHCHR Report calls for justice and accountability’ reporter Manjula Fernando highlights:

[Action against LTTE financiers and other international operatives will be an integral part of the criminal investigation recommended in the OHCHR Report. The OHCHR Special Spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani called upon everyone in Sri Lanka should study the Report in depth. "This is a Report for the people of Sri Lanka. We want the people to understand the findings, understand the analysis and in that context to look at the recommendations"]

Sovereignty and Human Rights are the respective parallels of Governance and Vote. At the times UN introduced Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) facilitating member states to list the LTTE as a Terrorist group UN had the responsibility to ensure that it took measures to prevent the suppression of  Human Rights of voters by the Governments – so listing. Had that been monitored from then on – the UN would not need to set up a Hybrid Court to inquire into the Sri Lankan Government’s own breaches of Human Rights by abusing the powers vested on it on the basis of Sovereignty. LTTE is part of the voting population of Sri Lanka and to the extent the Sri Lankan Government used the UN to punish LTTE and the Tamil Community that expressed itself through the LTTE – the UN is responsible and needs to include itself to be tried by the Hybrid Court. Without such inclusion – the UN does not have the authority to establish such a Court and if it goes ahead – it is interfering in the Sovereignty of the member State.

India – through the Road project is looking towards an economic pathway.  In the Island article ‘Does Sri Lanka need a Bridge link between India and Sri Lanka? NO! But India does’, Ashley  de Vos states:

 ‘Sri Lanka does not need it but RAW-driven Delhi with its bold statements is using the present political hiatus in Sri Lanka to drive and acquire as much mileage as possible; in the process Delhi is compelling Sri Lanka to accept all that Delhi desires to control this island forever as a vassal state. A process that Delhi has developed single-minded for over 60 years for the region, while driving a totally closed economy, and is now willing to unleash its hegemony and desires on its neighbours. Gradually the grand plan for Sri Lanka unfolds. The proposed Bridge and CEPA are interconnected and has to be seen together.’

Like with Child-Recruitment by the LTTE – the above writer seems to be basing his conclusion on his personal ‘sight’ largely based on current events that he can relate to. That is the parallel of separating the 2009 Battle of Vanni from the issue of  Racial Discrimination or separating the LTTE from the Tamil Community to attribute ‘Terrorism’ label which continues at the top levels (including by the President) in Sri Lankan Administration. Those who believe that LTTE is the only Terrorist group during their lifetime – are entitled to  so express to their group but not beyond those local borders – especially to those who suffered due to failures of the Government to protect Tamils attacked by Sinhalese Terrorists including those in Uniform.

My interpretation on the other hand is based on Rama whose wife Sita who through her Divine Chastity protected Herself from Ravana – the King of Lanka – who ‘stole’ another’s wife. Rama’s devotees built the Bridge of Faith to complete the experience. Ravana enjoying pleasures outside marriage was ‘right’ as per his culture. But even thinking of such enjoyment with someone of higher culture – a regulated culture which has the potential to  raise pleasure from ground-level to sky level Bliss – is a Human Rights Violation.

Sri Lankans who have failed to publicly discipline their armed forces of such violations would naturally feel fearful of invasion by Mighty India.

The above reporter states:

[In fact, as already reported, Delhi has no business to request the Asian Development Bank to carry out a pre-feasibility study for financing a road-rail link between Rameswaran and Thalaimannar across the Palk Strait, crossing sovereign Sri Lankan territory. We will be experiencing more of this blatant bullying in the future.]

If the motive is to preserve the Sovereignty of even One Sri Lankan who believes s/he is Sri Lankan – then India has the authority of such Sovereignty. I believe in Rama and hence the Spirituality of this project. This to be is the first manifestation  of the ‘Compassionate Council’ recommended by the Sri Lankan Government for itself.  Tamils will heal themselves through this bridge which is called ‘Adam’s Bridge’ – the same way Sivanolli Patha Malai is referred to as Adam’s Peak. One needs only One believer in the Spirit to invoke such Divine Powers of Sovereignty and Self-Governance.

The reporter concludes at ground level  about this project:

[All at enormous personal cost, a fishery worth millions of dollars on an annual basis to the Tamil speaking Sri Lankan fishermen who suffered very badly during the 30 year insurgency that was started and nurtured by Delhi that led to the spilling of blood on sovereign Sri Lankan soil.]

As per our official media Australian Government  is then guilty of supporting the Human Rights Violations by the Lankan Government – including by supplying ‘White Vans’:

[AFP providing support to Sri Lankan government department accused of torture http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-03/afp-provide-support-to-sri-lankan-department-accused-of-torture/6669562

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has been providing equipment and assistance to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has been accused of kidnapping and torture. The AFP was central to the Government's attempts to deal with the influx of asylum seekers fleeing the civil war in Sri Lanka.

In mid-2009 it struck a deal with Sri Lankan police to provide equipment and training to help Sri Lanka disrupt people-smuggling networks.

Documents released to 7.30 under a Freedom of Information request, the last of a series dating back to 2011, detail what is being provided.

Across five years the AFP have given the CID and other branches of the Sri Lankan police everything from furniture and office equipment to high-tech intelligence programs.

Among them is the Jade Investigator software program, which allows police to easily link photos, video, intelligence reports and other evidence together.

Their [CID] headquarters in Colombo, known as the Fourth Floor, is a notorious torture facility.

Sonya Sceats, Freedom From Torture

Another program given to the CID was IBM's i2 Analyst's Notebook, a powerful tool to visualise networks of people being targeted by a police force.

The AFP also handed over two machines that extract information held on mobile phones, including deleted emails, texts and location data.

Former diplomat Bruce Haigh served as Australia's deputy high commissioner in Sri Lanka in 1994.]

If one went deeper and deeper – one would appreciate that Rama has come through every one of us who has preserved her/his Sovereignty at the highest level in her/his environment. When I went in 2009 to Puttaparthi to physically ‘see’ Swami Sathya Sai Baba who confirmed to me that I had upheld my Sovereignty and the Sovereignty of my Mother Nation Sri Lanka through my Administrative and Legal Resistance to violations by the Australian Authorities I just let the tears of Gratitude flow when I heard the Bhajan song ‘Dhasaratha Nanthana Rama (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gT_dmwQxFY ). I went for the first time after my Service in the camps of Vavuniya, was completed. Since I was guided by Swami Sai Baba within me – to me Swami was Rama who eliminated Ravana’s in the armed forces on both sides. Hence the feeling of Gratitude. If the above reporter Ashley  de Vos of the Island, believed in Buddha – then he would have had a Lord Buddha experience of this war. Lord Shiva in Meditation to the Hindu is the same as Lord Buddha in Meditation. King Ravana also was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Hence his honorable defeat by the Lord Himself.

The UN as a facility could only confirm our own beliefs. It does not have the authority to directly punish. The Hindu article ‘UN defends 'silence on genocide' in Sri Lanka war crimes report’ includes the following:

[Responding to a question sent by The Hindu in this regard, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the High Commissioner, stated via email: “This [the U.N. report] does not preclude such a finding [that genocide was committed] being made as a result of further criminal investigations, including by the hybrid court that we recommend.”]

This upholds the Resolution in February, by the Northern Provincial Council  Headed by a Hindu Chief Minister   ‘  blaming successive governments in the country of committing “genocide” against Tamils’

This to my mind is a Political expression that the Northern Provincial Council is very well entitled to make. If based on belief – that would have invoked the Divine Power of  Rama to protect Tamils through common cultural belief. No human law could prevent this flow.

As for me – I see Rama Bridge towards which I contributed through my faith in Swami Sai Baba – as an Opportunity for Tamils of Sri Lanka to lead the way in Governance through Projects – from Zero Base – meaning from zero advantage. That is the legitimate role of the TNA at National level – headed by the Hon Rajavarothiam Sampanthan.