Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 24 October  2015

Structuring Sri Lanka’s Leadership

They say in Tamil that Guru makes no mistakes. The Guru as an individual may make mistakes. But to the shishya / disciple the Guru is the higher position through which the shishya / disciple develops her/himself. Likewise parents to the children, government to the citizen and the higher position to the lower position in any relationship. Excessive importance placed to money often distracts us from structure development.

The Leadership of Political Opposition is an important position through which Tamils would be structuring their participation in regular governance. As pre news reports Mr. Sampanthan who currently occupies that position said in Parliament  ["Dissanayake made an appeal to the TNA, that we should not rush to India and international community to find solutions to the issues faced by our community. I agree. At the same time let me also remind that the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact was not signed in Delhi. The Dudley Senanayake-Chelvanayagam Pact was not signed in Washington. There were signed in Sri Lanka," he said. Whenever the Tamils agitated over their problems and held a Sathyagraha as a peaceful means of protesting, they were subjected to violence.

That was the reason for the birth of the LTTE. This entire issue was a result of the failure to address the Tamil question in a reasonable way. We did not  rush to India, Europe or the USA," he stressed]

As analyzed previously – Sathyagraham is to discipline our own group. Hence if it was genuine – it was to discipline the Parliamentary group that the Tamil Politicians were a part of.   If it were ‘protest’ to attract the other side – it amounts to emotional blackmail. I assembled peacefully in the area allocated to the public in the office of the Vice Chancellor. That was non-violent non-cooperation. When threatened with enforced medication while in custody – I fasted to prevent wrong-doing by average level staff.

It is common knowledge that India did fund the LTTE. As a Regional power they acted as per their own structures and they are likely to continue to do so. As per recent reports [Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday that the Jaffna Peninsula was infested with agents of India's premier intelligence agency – the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) engaged in destabilizing the North.]

This could be factual. But then who is responsible for letting them in? The TNA or the Government? Like in the case of LTTE being Terrorists to the Sri Lankan Government – but an outlet  for releasing frustrations for the Tamil Community seriously victimized by Sinhalese Government that influenced the thugs Naturally – RAW could be considered to be protecting angels by Jaffna public. Where our laws fail it is just and proper for us to be driven by our Truth and Truth alone.

A leading member of the Tamil Diaspora wrote in response to my email with LTTE’s Thamilini’s photo yesterday:

[Good to pay tribute to a great soul- as CW did ,but isn't it a little too late !!!

 A sad indictment of the actions then and inactions of the  remnants of LTTE remaining in Sri Lanka and abroad now. The Tamil community in general also has to take the responsibility

Wonder what Ananthi Sasitharen,  Sivajilingam , Transnational Govt. etc  etc were doing !!

Most of us were not aware of Thamilini's plight  until her death was announced and the information on how she lived came to light.

There must be many more like Thamilini  in Eelam while many of her comrades who bribed their way out of the country live in comfort !! ……LTTE sadly turned out to be not what many thought what they are and will be.Self preservation as an instinct overtook the needs of the collective. 

We have to face the consequences but try and make use of the lessons learnt and the positive outcomes of the struggle so far, one  of which is the awakened civic sense of the so called " selfish Jaffna man" and the political maturity gained by the senior Tamil community. CW. is a blessing. The younger generation needs serious rehabilitation and that is the task at hand..]

My Response was :

[ Your insight into the problem confirms your depth of feeling through your own pathways.  There aren’t many such leaders in the Community. But a few good ones will satisfy the need to move forward. I agree that CW is a blessing.  LTTE was given high profile by our Community because back then we wanted good status with British society in our mind. That was our strength as well as weakness. Hence we also used LTTE to show the Sinhalese that we also can be rough. But the LTTE carried on as per its TRUE make up and that was the problem. In many ways it surfaced our own hidden problems. To the extent we abused the caste system we earned this karma. LTTE used the victims of caste system to its advantage. Recently also one of those who escaped by bribing – said that now that the Boys were gone – these problems will surface. They would not have if the Boys were true. They also used the victims of the caste system to their advantage. Within the LTTE also there were leaders who did not like working with lower castes – especially when they were females. Money and internal status were the balancing factors  and not any true belief by the LTTE. As I said to a senior Tamil during a counselling session – we have the duty to society to uphold the position of parents – as we made them out to be. Now we have the duty to society to uphold that the LTTE were a true military. Towards this we need leaders who would take position ABOVE the LTTE and not Equal to the LTTE. This is the challenge for CW and I think he knows it. We need to add our own support to him towards creating that highest Tamil position within the Tamil Community.  He may or may not fit that height; but all our contributions to that position will help structure that position]

The Leadership position  in Parliament by TNA is a structural part of the Sri Lankan Tamil Community. It gives form to our consolidated  struggle for Equal footing in Administration. If Sinhalese fear India and the International Community – it is as per their Truth. We are not here to alleviate it. If needed we must go to India and the International Community to uphold our rights. Within the Tamil Community – India is the higher relation. India has the Responsibility to Protect Sri Lankan Tamils to the extent we demonstrate that higher respect through the cultural pathways. When we are genuine – eventually there would be no difference between Indian Tamil and Sri Lankan Tamil. This is a huge structural benefit that we have inherited due to India’s role in the war - Thanks to the LTTE whose leader openly addressed MGR – then the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu - as Anna – Big Brother. To majority Sri Lankan Tamils MGR was an acting hero and later the Chief Minister. He was not Anna. So long as those structures that we have invested in are protected and nurtured – Sri Lanka is safe from Outsiders. That is the Tamil value to Sri Lanka.  

As per my inner knowledge - the likes of Thamilini – chose their pathway and the best way to honor them is through their sense of Independence nurtured through the discipline within the LTTE. LTTE as a movement preserved this Independence from its past. We must not throw the baby with the bath.