Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 08 April   2016

Where is The Common Opposition?

During my battles with the Central Administration of the University of NSW, a professor who appreciated my work shared with me his insight into the system. One of the conclusions he had arrived at through his own battles - was that Union leaders who fought against the Management became like that very management when they had the management job!  Likewise  the Opposition in parliament. This to my mind confirms that those positions themselves are the problem. They carry negative Energy /sins. Those looking for quick benefits would become blind to such negatives and end up as debtors to the ‘system’.

When the personalities now occupying leadership positions in Government formed the ‘Common Opposition’ shortly before the 2015 Presidential Elections, they represented the People – especially victims of the old system - the corruption of which began well before Mr. Rajapaksa.  In my development and training work – I have identified with many who would do an excellent job once the position comes down to their level. But once the position is restructured and elevated - they are not able to deliver as expected by the same people. Developing the position through which one would  deliver the best outcome is the key to harmonious progress. Only those who pay their respects to the architects of the position would comfortably perform and deliver any time anywhere. By paying their respects they elevate themselves to experiencing the Issue.

In Sri Lankan Parliament – the leadership position since it was taken over by Sinhalese leaders – has been relying heavily on pre-Colonial times. This naturally was hierarchical in structure where majority voters were in the lower ranks. Now that they have the position of king-makers – they can see how well they performed as citizens. Blaming others for their failures would take them back to the hierarchical system in reverse. In Democracy one shows the other side independently and does not blame the government for their woes. The idle citizen keeps looking for someone to blame.

One who lives off her/his past is claiming s/he is not a democratic leader. ‘Sinhala only’ rule took the government’s mind to pre-Colonial times. The problem with that is that due to time – that structure would have deteriorated naturally and would not have the strength to support the younger generation. The value of heritage is the connection to the spirit/energy. When it is brought into the ‘merit’ pool – the party giving it life  is deteriorating itself. It’s like using obsolete laws for the purpose of blind authority – a good example is the Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901 (NSW) here in Australia – being used by the University of New South Wales under the leadership of an American CEO.

When a government which takes current benefits  for being democratic, lives off the past, the real position of that government goes down – due to the net value being negative. The mind order is lowered and one ‘escapes’ into the easy past from the difficult present. With LTTE in place to represent Tamil opposition at the lower level  – this government position made itself the Equal Opposition of the LTTE. This level was comfortable for Mr. Rajapaksa. The People who elected him developed that structure through their natural conduct.

That was the natural maximum level that Mr. Rajapaksa had – to share his values with his people. To those who were his People – that maximum was enough. This is true also of the LTTE but by not electing LTTE only - at any time – the Tamil Community as a whole confirmed its investment in higher governance. The challenge was to wait until this opportunity was clear in the mind of the Tamil Community. This happened when we have the pain of losing our own.  So long as the Tamil Community ‘left’ the armed rebels to their own pathway – Tamils as a Community did not have the mind to elevate their minority status to Equal status through the Common pathway facilitated by the system of Democratic Administration. They wanted it both ways. Majority Tamil families known to me continue to be hierarchical in their structure. So long as these families do not claim benefits – beyond their contribution - for practicing democracy,  such systems would help preserve our heritage.

As per my discovery – we are driven by two minds – (1) the conscious mind which is driven by the seen – including majority power and the known; and (2) the  subconscious mind that operates as per our true nature. Where the subconscious mind is stronger than the conscious mind – we are driven by the Spirit of the issue – be it positive or negative. When we hold official positions in a Democratic system – we have the Duty to show our actions as per the conscious mind. Those actions that cannot be explained through the official mind structure – need to be done quietly and confidentially – as per our conscience. Where the subconscious is based on the ‘benefits’ of the past – the mind deteriorates to the hearsay level.

Where one is at the end of the official road and continues to seek – one is taken naturally to the higher system of Truth.  Sri Lankan Tamils being strong practitioners of their culture would have become relatives of Hindus & Christians all over the world. Those nations where Hinduism is officially recognized as a higher pathway – become natural relatives of Sri Lankan Hindus. Likewise Sri Lankan Buddhists who are Sinhalese.

Now that Sri Lankan Government is trying to be harmonious with India and at the same time is engaging actively with China – all these non-visible forces become important until the war-issues are settled and the experience is treated as heritage and not suppressed as Terrorism.

 As per the  Hindu article ‘India’s fear of encirclement groundless says Chinese daily, as Ranil arrives for talks’:

“Within hours of Mr. Wickremasinghe’s arrival, the state-run Global Times newspaper ran an op-ed that focused on India as a factor in Beijing-Colombo ties. Analysts say that the 1.4-billion dollar Port City Project in Colombo, which has been cleared by the Sri Lankan government, but where protests are being staged, has become a litmus test of Colombo’s ability to balance ties between its two Asian powerhouses: China and India.’

Global Times report ‘Prime minister’s visit expected to iron out Sino-Sri Lankan divergences’ highlighted as follows:

[Apart from partisan politics in Sri Lanka, pressure from India has also been playing a crucial role in suspending the project. New Delhi is often biased when viewing Chinese investment in South Asia. New Delhi's anxiety stems from its suspicion that China is making an attempt to contain India. Despite the fact that neither Beijing's investment to Sri Lanka, nor the latter's economic development will do any harm to India, New Delhi is still obsessed with the idea that China might create a military encirclement around India.
For example, in late 2014, Sri Lanka allowed a Chinese submarine and a warship to dock at its port in Colombo, and India strongly opposed it. After Sri Lanka's new cabinet assumed the office, it claimed that similar incident would not happen again.]

If the Prime Minister were able to rise above the push to ‘show’ quick economic progress – he would be able to identify with India’s need to protect its investment in Sri Lanka. A Sri Lankan leader looking to prevent war in Sri Lanka would seriously give form to India’s real status relative to China – as allocated by Sri Lankan People. The more pro-China Sri Lankan Government becomes – the stronger the possibility of war due to loss of confidence by the Hindus. If the problem with China is the debt owed – then that must be clearly stated and the status shown as a Liability and not as Shares in Sri Lanka.

Just yesterday, someone from Thunaivi-Vaddukoddai in Northern Sri Lanka -  who was faced with similar dilemma as the Sri Lankan Government sought my guidance. The problem is pictured as follows: ‘A member of the Diaspora living in Norway sent money to build a cultural hall for the community. The land was acquired by the Thunaivi community through a Deed of Declaration.  Now – the donor wants the message that it was a memorial for his father – engraved on the foundation stone. Community leaders who were not part of the project are opposed to this. In the meantime, the donor has ‘gifted’ a sum of money to the young project leader – claiming it was because he was family.’

If I were India, this donor from Norway would be China. We also donated Land to the Community for Development work. Whenever the above project leader had community and/or family problems – he sought my advice whereas in the case of the Norwegian donor – the transactions were at monetary level. I had initially asked including through a meeting at the Local Council - that records be maintained of all voluntary workers in the project – and that the names of those volunteers be registered in the ledgers of the village. This was not done. Yesterday, I urged the project leader to treat the ‘gift’ as payment for work done – and to register the names of all volunteers on the foundation stone. The donor’s name would come AFTER that. The basis for this is that Human Resource is higher than money Resource. This way the project-leader brings himself out of the leadership picture and also the blame that he took ‘bribe’ in the name of donation.

The parallel of that for China is to clearly identify its position as a Lender / Liability and register the name of the People of Sri Lanka as the owners of the Port City project. As part of the  Common Opposition – that is what Mr. Wickremesinghe would have done. That is also what TNA ought to do. Since TNA has not – it comes from this Common Tamil Opposition of Global standards.

As per the Sri Lankan news report ‘Task Force invites submissions from public in truth and justice process’ : [The Consultations Task force on Reconciliation Mechanisms has invited submissions from the public on the design of structures, processes and measures to seek truth and justice, ensure accountability and offer redress to the victims of the war.]

The above mandate recognizes Truth as the goal. One needs to be open to bottom-up contributions from the Public who have completed their duty to the existing system which makes them eligible to contribute to future policy by sharing their discoveries. That is also the duty of Governors in any system. That is how we connect the past to the future through ourselves. Even if no one reads such contribution – the system of Truth would record it as an Opposition to the Government’s work and influence minds accordingly.