Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 15 October  2015

Tiger & the Swan

[தமிழ் மக்கள் தனித்து வாழவே விரும்புவதாக வடக்கு மாகாண முதல மைச்சர் க.வி.விக்னேஸ்வரன் ஜனாதிபதி கலந்து கொண்ட ஒரு நிகழ்வில் வைத்துக் கூறியுள்ளார். அவரதுஅந்தக் கருத்து தமிழ் மக் களின் ஒட்டுமொத்த உணர்வைப் பிரதிபலிப்பதாகக் கொள்ள முடியும். (‘Tamils want to live separately’ – so said the Chief Minister of Northern Province C.V.Wigneswaran, during a Presidential function in which he participated. This could be taken as the feelings of all Tamils’)] Uthayan Newspaper - http://onlineuthayan.com/article/45

At the same time Uthayan has published the following about TNA National Leader the Hon Rajavarothiam Sampanthan:

[‘வன்முறையின் காரணமாகவே தமிழினத்துக்குப் பெரும் அழிவு ஏற் பட்டது. நாங்கள் ஏன் வன்முறை யைப் பின்பற்றினோம் என்ற பெரும் கேள்வி இன்று வரைக்கும் இருந்து கொண்டுதான் இருக்கின்றது. வன் முறையைக் கையாண்டதற்குப் பல காரணங்கள் இருந்திருக்கலாம்.  அதில் சில வற்றை  நியாயப்படுத்து வதாகவும் இருக்கலாம். ஆனாலும் வன் முறையை நாம் ஏன் தேர்ந் தெடுத்தோம் என்ற கேள்வி இன்ன மும் உள்ளது.’ 

அவரது கருத்து விடுதலைக்காகப் போராடிய விடுதலைப் புலிகள் அமைப்பை மறைமுகமாகக் குற்றம் சாட்டுவதாகவே இருக்கின்றதா என்று எண்ணத் தோன்றுகின்றது.

Great Destruction has happened to the Tamil Community due to Violent pathway. The question as to why we resorted to violence continues to remain unanswered. There may be many reasons as to why we chose the path of violence. Some reasons may be justifiable. But the question as to why we chose that pathway still continues to be unknown.

We wonder whether his opinion is indirectly pointing  the finger at the LTTE] http://onlineuthayan.com/article/46

Having done my own Research without meaning to find answers to the above questions I make the following responses:

1.      The karma of the place and the community.

The karma of Northern Sri Lanka – the Capital of Sri Lankan Tamils – would lead us to why Tamils resorted to Violence. As per my discovery – when our mind is filled with what happens on the outside – there is little room for Truth from within. If we are to discover our own Truth we need to find both sides within ourselves. Towards this we need to keep going within ourselves at the time we were more or less self-governing.

At that time the Caste system was actively used and used appropriately on the basis of work performed. Most concerned accepted the Caste based divisions for their own purposes. Its heritage continues to support members of both sides that have remained in their Traditional pathways. Vaddukoddai – where the first Political Resolution of  Tamil Independence was made – continues to practice the Caste system mostly in a healthy way.  But one would find that lower castes are still not entertained inside  higher caste households and higher castes are ‘foreigners’ to majority lower castes in Vaddukoddai area. When their physical presence is not recognized – lower castes tend to ‘occupy’ and claim the land as theirs – their justification being that the ‘foreigners’ did not really need that land. Where activity kept happening – such as at our temple in Sangarathai-Thunaivi – the lower caste did not so ‘occupy’. They however used the ‘produce’ as theirs.

The job-based separations were needed in the Subjective system – so that only the top person/s in both groups interacted with each other – as CEOs and Heads of Governments do even today.

Where there were abuses and the lower castes were unjustly blamed for what went wrong – we accumulated unjust karma. Truth never dies and to the extent there was no outlet for the victims of the caste system – we accumulated that karma.

Some of the younger generation crossed the borders to assimilate – for example to drink toddy with the toddy-tappers. It’s like University students keeping the company of drug traffickers. This reduced the mind-order to the lower caste level. In addition, Jaffna Tamils acquired Tertiary Education labels more and more for living and less and less for Principles and Policy. In the modern context at governance level – it is like the lawyer crossing the border to become politician and remaining there. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa on the Sinhalese side and Mr. Wigneswaran on the Tamil side are examples of this disrespect for Separation. A lawyer who becomes a politician needs to invest in Higher Administration and not be driven by majority influence.

The more we blame others the more we become like those others. Truth prevents us from finding fault with others but when discovered becomes the seed of our solution to prevent future problems. Like in the caste system, many Tamils continue to excessively blame the other side  for what happened. When such blame is attributed unjustly this would result in further deterioration of our mind-order. That is the way of Natural Justice – our built-in Justice system which works precisely as per our Truth and nothing but our Truth.

2.      The natural fit of the person born in that place/family/community

Truth renders us an institutional structure. In Tamil-Hindu culture the horoscope indicates this structure that we are born with. Every True experience restructures us. Every time we cause genuine grief to others we get restructured by their Truth – because Truth merges naturally and often without us being conscious of  Its  presence. We are born into families as Natural fits in the positions we are born in. Those families have their own natural fits / positions in the Communities they are part of.  So long as we remain within the borders of our Natural positions – we would never be wrong.

In the case of Mr. Wigneswaran – his natural position within the Community at the time of his birth could be worked out from the following details in Wikipedia:

[Vigneswaran was born on 23 October 1939 in Hulftsdorp, Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. His parents were born in Manipay in northern Ceylon and he had two sisters. His father Canagasabapathy was a public official who worked in several parts of the country. Vigneswaran's grandfather was a cousin of statesmen P. Ramanathan and P. Arunachalam.]

Manipay in Northern Sri Lanka is the center of Christian Colombo Tamils of my generation. It is highly unlikely that a Manipay Tamil would have resorted to use of arms to express her/himself. The Green Memorial Hospital in Manipay confirms the True contribution of Christian Missionaries to Northern Sri Lanka. This is also part of Mr. Wigneswaran’s root. The rest of Mr. Wigneswaran’s roots are in Colombo. On his own he became a member of the Judiciary and that is part of his natural makeup. When he blames the Sri Lankan Government totally for the war – Mr. Wigneswaran is being a traitor to his own make up. If he chose to be reborn – he should have renounced all of the above to become a politician. That sacrifice would have elevated him – as Lord Muruga has demonstrated. So long as Mr. Wigneswaran carries his old titles – a share if his current contributions need to be Royalties to those positions.

In contrast to the above Natural Position of Mr. Wigneswaran – following is the Natural roots of Velupillai Prabhakaran:

[Velupillai Prabhakaran was born in the northern coastal town of Valvettithurai on November 26, 1954, as the youngest of four children  to Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and his wife Vallipuram Parvathy.  Thiruvenkadam Velupillai was the District land Officer in the Ceylon Government.  Angered by what he saw as discrimination against Tamil people by successive Sri Lankan governments, he joined the student group TIP during the standardization debates. In 1972 Prabhakaran founded the Tamil New Tigers (TNT)  which was a successor to many earlier organizations that protested against the post-colonial political direction of the country, in which the minority Sri Lankan Tamils were pitted against the majority Sinhalese people.

In 1975, after becoming heavily involved in the Tamil movement, he carried out the first major political murder by a Tamil group, assassinating the mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, by shooting him at point-blank range when he was about to enter the Hindu temple at Ponnaalai. The assassination was in response to the 1974 Tamil conference incident, for which the Tamil radicals had blamed Duraiappah, because he backed the then ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.]

I was born in Jaffna Town – in 1950 and I had most of my primary and secondary education in – Jaffna – at the Holy Family Convent. I was in the first batch that switched from English medium to Tamil medium. Yet, I performed outstandingly in my studies – as per my family makeup (especially my mother’s drive) and my own within the family. Hence between Prabhakaran and I, I ought to have been more upset than he about standardization. I was upset alright but I used it positively to continue to be outstanding in my studies. Hence I conclude with authority that the ‘reasoning’ stated above is false. Discrimination – yes – due to the lower caste community that Valvettithurai community is. This is also known for its smuggling activities. Now that I live in Thunaivi – and hear natural talks of smuggling – I am able to picture that environment more comfortably than I did as a child/student when my father went to Valvettithurai to recover loans to fishermen. My younger brother was named due to our faith in Selva Sannithi Murugan in this area. My brother who was born in 1963 – did enter Engineering faculty on merit basis and thus confirmed our ability to take on the Standardization challenge successfully. As my mother often said in terms of schools – ‘a good student would study well in any school’. Hence as per my true position – Prabhakaran did not have the mandate of those who invested in education – to claim ‘standardization’ as the reason. In fact – given that his father was in Government Service – there was no foundation to the ‘discrimination’ claim at individual level.

At policy level – we have the mandate as per our public positions – to make claims. At individual level – our experiences – true experiences are the sources of our mandate. I had this mandate here in Australia and I proved myself despite the strong setbacks which often resulted in me demoting myself. My faith in God – helped me ‘rise and shine’ again and again – always through my own true pathway of Education. This was possible because I continuously invested in Truth and thus restructured my thought order and hence identified comfortably with my true position. This helped me quickly work out others’ true positions. Those who desire/have taken benefits from Prabhakaran’s pathway while drawing benefits from the claim that they are educated – would therefore have difficulty ‘observing’ and positioning themselves and others. We don’t reject Prabhakaran but we need to hierarchically position him and his group – to restore the value of our investment in Education.

Prabhakaran had every right to lead as per his Truth. This Truth did not give him the mandate to kill politicians nor interfere with those to whom education was the natural pathway to Independence. Tamil Politicians who, through the Vaddukoddai Resolution 1976, – got the Leadership position in Parliament failed to value that as the Natural result of their struggle for Independence until then. They got what they asked for but failed to maintain it due to ‘attachment’ to the outcomes projected by their political minds only. The outcome through 1977 elections was not just the political investment in Independence but more the investment in Education leading to employment and beyond to Independence of the self. Every Tamil who has invested in higher education has the responsibility and the right to this position and its values.

Actively facilitating the lower castes to pursue this pathway would naturally redeem our own excesses through the caste system. Lowering our standards to join the LTTE bandwagon would make us traitors to our own ancestors.

When each one of affected by the Sri Lankan war position ourselves as per our Truth alone – we are already part of the solution.

Every person who seeks to fight through arms must remain strictly within their local area – so that it would be in Defence. All others are for selfish reasons and should not be elevated to governance level.  Mother Kali is Mother of Armed Defence. Each weapon represents one form of Power. Hence to be a true Tiger – LTTE needed to be the Vehicle and not Kali. Interestingly the current President’s symbol is the Swan. The swan has the ability to distinguish between milk and water. Hence the Swan vehicle for Goddess of Education – Saraswathi. Intellectual discrimination between right and wrong has been promised by the current government. If our true makeup meets that criterion – we would be part of the self-governing leadership of Sri Lanka.