Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 26 March   2016

Opposing the UN

[I am unable to accept your view, "... Colombo where Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe is largely common to all the races". He, like JR, knows how to speak and deceive all, mainly the Tamils.]

This was the response from a leading member of the Tamil Diaspora to my article of 13 February ‘Lankan War – Myth or Legend’. I responded as follows through my own family experience:

[Truth and Structure are not the same. As a Tamil you are likely to see Ranil’s  Truth as per your Truth known at its highest when you left Sri Lanka. I was in Colombo writing about current Sri Lankan structure – as per the Truth I had written in my mind,  when I left Sri Lanka before the outbreak of war. Our Truth will merge eventually but if we declare prematurely we deny hope to a large majority of Tamils relying on Public Service for jobs as well as security. That would be like LTTE which declared as per its eyes. What happens is not Truth until we make it happen and/or experience the whole effect. Until then what happens is Truth of many forces – some of which are not yet known to us.

When you say in your own article - that the young ladies seek to marry Lord Shiva – are you referring to the Relative projection or the Love that merges them with Lord Shiva? To my mind, to the extent they seek to realize Love – and therefore personify their expectations through Shiva – it is an expression of Truth. But in reality – they would marry a human to give form to this. What most do not know is that to the extent their prayers were genuinely to realize Love – the Lord fills the gap to help them complete the experience. Last night I had a discussion bordering on argument – about my sister in law’s claim that she mothered her siblings after their mother passed away. Even though most of the time my husband claimed that it was his father who fulfilled that role – he did not want to criticize his sister who made this claim in Court. I then said to him – ‘then hand over the whole inheritance from your brother – as she asked you to’.  He promptly said NO. The NO was based on his True experience as per his investment in the higher common family system, whereas the denial of her wrong claim was due to his emotional/biological attachment to his sister. That is how we also protect the ‘boys’ and blame Sinhalese leaders through different yardsticks.

Then I came to the computer and felt uplifted by your communication. I went to bed soon after sending you a reply and almost fell asleep. Then suddenly I visualized Lord Natraj  in my head and heard the message that by sponsoring the eldest brother’s son when my husband and daughter were in hospital – I had become the head of that family. Our discussions did not include this eldest brother who was the only one in the family who consciously remembered and expressed love for his mother. But he himself did not take responsibility for his family/children. Today that brother’s grandson is a doctor who came over and asked for our blessings as soon as he graduated.  Where my husband ‘failed’ due to his attachment and therefore relativity – his eldest brother who died in the camp and  whose funeral was conducted in Colombo under my guidance – filled the gap. That is also the value of Sivapuranam – chanted with faith.

Using the lower yardstick we do not realize the absolute. But if we believe and allow Truth to flow through – we complete the experience and feel wholesome. Ranil is the best reality available to Tamils and that is better than Eelam structure available to us. The gap is filled by ourselves as good governors.  Who would be your alternate to Ranil – to develop an appropriate structure including for educated Tamils like yourself?]

So long as we relate to Sinhalese – we are still relatives as their opposition. It is healthy to ‘show’ the other side as we see it – but only based on Truth independent of the other side. That is the law relating to subjective power on Equal footing. The question is whether Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s statements and actions are his Truth or as per his Duty. When we take up equal position as the Prime Minister – we do so as part of the Opposition. To be credible, we need to produce our own independent work in the issue – that would highlight the sides that the Prime Minister has not. Without this position we are not Equals in the same institution. When we take up Equal position – we have the duty to produce the opposite side of the Truth manifested by the leader.

When I made the statement “ Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe is largely common to all the races’ I was making an observation based on my own Truth.  If there was a Tamil leader who deserved that qualification in a parallel role – for example the Hon Wigneswaran – I would have chosen that personality to highlight that issue. The determination is through policies and actions. As persons both may qualify. But when we are developing structures and systems – we are talking of duties. If there is duty – there is position; if there is position there is structure. If that structure is based on Truth of an internal person – then that deserves priority over an outsider.

Those who desire quick credits through hasty reporting often end up revealing their own ignorance. Ms Rita Izsák  has published such a report on Sri Lankan caste system as follows:

Human Rights Council Thirty-first session; Agenda item 3; Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Note by the Secretariat The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák. The report provides an update of her activities during 2015. It includes a thematic analysis on the topic of minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status.

The above UN report includes the following:

[In the Sri Lanka Tamil caste system, the bottom stratum is comprised of a myriad of groups collectively labelled as Panchamar and regarded as “untouchables”. Population displacement due to war and the 2004 tsunami has resulted in a large internal displaced population in the Jaffna peninsula, with a disproportionate presence of Panchamar groups now in camps for internally displaced persons. 20 The caste system among Indian Tamils traces its origins to their arrival to the plantations as indentured labourers during the colonial era and presents unique characteristics, which differ from the traditional Indian caste system. Some features are common, however, including the avoidance of inter-caste marriage and the link between lower castes and greater levels of poverty]

As someone who lives with lower castes in Northern Sri Lanka – I am not able to identify with the above. It is hearsay and reduces the subjective power of the UN itself. It confirms that for any real solution of global standards for the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka – we need an Equal Opposition to the UN. Otherwise we would imagine problems and lose the opportunity to escalate the issue on the basis of our Truth to complete our experience of self-governance. The fact that Tamils are capable of opposition to the Sinhalese Government has been established already. But who is to oppose the UN at global level? If we try to use the UN to have wins against Sinhalese – we would weaken our own investments in higher structures. This often leads to living with our imaginations and ultimate disorder of the mind – as happens through consumption of intoxicants.

Minorities are a reality. Those driven by numbers would try to use it to excite their minds and shrink their own worlds – including at UN level. The Truth is that no one is a minority once the mind is escalated above the physical and the mental. Truth divides equally at the flat plane. When we receive or express information on that plane developed from within – we have steady minds. When those minds produce reports – they are healthy. Outsiders’ reports often carry myths and influence mental disorders in those whose minds are lacking in Truth.