Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam- 22 July 2016
Governor must use Truth; Chief Minister must use
Law
If even one citizen who is sovereign seeks
a solution – the solution is already there for the problem that manifested
through the University of Jaffna. As per the Island:
‘Northern
Province Governor Reginald Cooray yesterday invited undergraduates who had been
forced to return to Colombo following last Saturday’s violent incident in the
University of Jaffna to return to Jaffna and resume their studies.’
Is it the role of the Governor to extend
such an invitation? The incident is a strong indicator of the true situation in
Jaffna. If the Government continues to keep Sinhalese Armed Forces in North –
then the Government’s Truth is that Jaffna is ‘unsafe’ for Sinhalese or it seeks
to proactively prevent the rebirth of Tigers by using the threat of Arms.
Jaffna is NOT safe yet for anyone activating Sinhala first theories. The young
and the restless have the potential to become Tigers if they are not kept
occupied in their official positions.
It is not uncommon these days to hear in Jaffna
- the saying that ‘it would not have
happened if the ‘boys’ were here’. This is true because ‘the boys’
controlled by arms those who could not manage themselves intellectually. But
Jaffna has its own civilization led by the Caste system which is still
indirectly practiced. If the caste system had prevailed as per its core purpose
– that being largely for employment purposes – Jaffna would easily restructure to
suit the current system of Democracy by devolving itself as per its own
specialties – one of which is higher education. Sinhalese coming to Jaffna
despite the risks – confirms this relative value in Sri Lankan structure. Once
we have self-regulated armed forces and reliable Judiciary – Jaffna would be
self-governing – with or without the Certificate. Until then – trespassers enter
at their own risk.
Now that we know that law and order is at
low levels – we need to use our own Truth. Instead of focusing on the past –
through Reconciliation rhetoric – we ought to train those going from North to
South and v.v. – to arrange their mind order to suit their new environments. In
Thunaivi – Northern Sri Lanka - I learnt that those going to Middle East have to first go
through basic training to adjust to their new employers/masters. Most do not go
through any technical training – as they are already above average in those
skills. But when it comes to social order – these folks lack the higher mind
order. Many come back because they cannot take orders from their new masters.
They like the ‘freedom’ back at home. In Thunaivi – I do not use the order I
use in Vaddukkodai or Jaffna. If I did use one rule – I would be erring and my
mind would become disorderly.
In Mahabharatham there is a good example in
regards to the eligibility to inherit the throne. The two
competing princes – Thuriyothanan of majority side and Dharmar of minority side
– were asked to deliver judgment in regards to four guys killing a man.
Thuriyothanan – like President Joko Widodo of Indonesia – said words to the
effect ‘simple – the death penalty to all four’. Dharmar said that each one of
the offenders was of different caste and hence there could not be one general
punishment to all. The Shudran (manual laborer/process worker) was given 4
years rigorous imprisonment; the Vaishyan (farmer / businessman) was given 8
years; the Kshatriyan (Administrator / Military Ruler / Judiciary/ Governor) was
sentenced to 16 years and the Brahmin (priest caste who were also Gurus) who was delegated to be punished by the Royal Guru
– undertook to immolate himself.
Using the highly civilized pathway –
University students who volunteered to come to Jaffna – need to seek guidance
from their gurus or decide for themselves as to how to punish or reward
themselves. If the Government did not influence them to come to Jaffna – the Government
has no responsibility to protect them above any other member of civil society
in that area. Likewise Tamil students have to decide whether they want their
parents to suffer more losses of their investments in higher education through
their children becoming fighters when they have to learn and leave their
parents to die without anyone who would carry forward their contribution to Jaffna heritage. LTTE used mostly Shudras in
their armed forces but today the heaviest punishment is being suffered by them.
The restructure of elevating a manual worker to become decision maker for the
whole - is in breach of the fundamentals of the Thesawalamai principles –
according to which one cannot be punished above one’s position in social order.
One who takes ‘authority’ beyond this order – does so at her/his own risk. This
applies also to Southerners coming to Jaffna before we have in place an
appropriate Common system.
Jaffna is different to Southern villages
from which ‘foreign’ students come. If Jaffna develops its own armed forces
they would have the duty to not intervene in the internal problems of the
University unless their services are sought by the Administration of the University,
through Due Process. The Northern Province Governor was in breach of this
protocol when he assured Southern students directly – as if the University and
the Armed Forces were directly under his jurisdiction. Each one must relate and
judge as per their position duties. Then harmony would be an achievable target.
No comments:
Post a Comment