Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

14 October   2016

‘What is and is not terrorism?’

Two Muslim youth were punished this week through Anti Terrorism laws. Yesterday, at the social level a Malaysian-Tamil  accused me of terrorism. At global level it is difficult for the ordinary person to define terrorism. I highlighted this as follows in my yesterday’s article:

[At individual level – unless we have had the direct experience, we are driven by the interpretation of our leaders. Such interpretations come with the leaders’ fears and desires. I am one who did not fear Terrorism in Sri Lanka nor in Australia. When we dwell deep into the problem and make it a part of ourselves we are protected by our True contribution and hence there is no fear.]

To this the Malaysian wrote:

[From: Malaysian
Sent: Thursday, 13 October 2016 4:02 PM
To: Gajalalakshmi Param
Cc:

Subject: Re: Terrorism and Sovereignty

If  as you claim ,  you were  not afraid of terrorism in S L - why  did  you leave your motherland (SL)
and deny   your people  your services amongst them  -  and not  away  from them ?
Also  as  you say - How do you  `` dwell deep into the problem (Terrorism )and make it part of  ourselves ``
Thus  I  hope  you  don`t  empathise with Terrorism ?]

My response to this was as follows:

[I left Sri Lanka to make money to build a home. I went to PNG first and then came to Australia. I did not leave Motherland due to the war. I was there in 1977.  You assume without asking. Not that I think it would have been wrong of me to leave for reasons of war. But my genuine feelings took me back and now I feel for both my countries.   As for empathising with Terrorism – the first question is ‘what is terrorism?’   Each person would construct it was per their own positions and experiences . None of mine – positions or experiences have thus far raised that need to list someone else a Terrorist.

To my mind, you are not able to comprehend my analyses due to your own conclusions about me. I respect your request to disconnect communication with you by taking you off my email list. In the meantime – thank you for your responses – however irritating I found them to be – they were useful to how some like you think.]

The Malaysian who asked for disconnection – responded again  - confirming his position of sailing in two boats. Terrorism fears also can cause Mental Disorders when we go beyond our needs. One good example that manifested virtually at the same time I had the above mentioned conversation is presented as follows:

EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn judge reduces convicted terror trio's jail sentence over haunting 'injustice' in Sri Lanka case

Judge Raymond J. Dearie (pictured) has reduced the sentence of three Canadian nationals with ties to Tamil Tigers after admitting the haunting Sri Lanka case "has just taken over my head.” 

BY JOHN MARZULLI 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, October 13, 2016, 4:00 AM

2016-10-13 16:00:39

[Three men convicted by the US of being LTTE terrorists would get their sentences reduced by 10 years after a Brooklyn judge revealed that he had been “haunted” by the case, the New York Daily News reported on Thursday.

“I just believe in my heart of hearts that an injustice has been done and I can’t correct it,” Federal Judge Raymond Dearie has said, according to a transcript of a July 15, 2015 conference with prosecutors and defense lawyers.

Dearie was referring to the 25-year prison terms he was mandated to give to Canadian nationals Sathajhan Sarachandran, Sahilal Sabaratnam, Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam in 2011 for conspiring to acquire surface-to-air missiles on behalf of the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group fighting against the government of Sri Lanka.

The men filed a lawsuit in 2012 in Brooklyn Federal Court seeking a reduction in their sentences and disclosed details about the civil war chaos including the deaths of dozens of innocent children in a Sri Lankan air strike.

“Now that we’ve become a little bit more sophisticated in our thinking about what is and is not terrorism, now that we know a lot more about the conflict in Sri Lanka and the horrors visited upon these people, perhaps there’s a way to provide a fair measure of justice to all without condemning these men to essentially a life behind bars” Dearie said.

Federal prosecutors informed Dearie this month that the Brooklyn US Attorney’s office had reached an agreement with lawyers for the three men which calls for essentially dropping the arms deal charge.

Their conviction for providing material support to a terrorist organization will remain along with the 15-year prison term.]

I read the above only this morning (14 October). It has been included for publishing by the New York Daily News at 4 a.m. which would have been around 7 pm our Sydney time. My article was published around 2 pm Sydney time. As confirmed in the above email - the Malaysian’s response came to me at 4.02 p.m. yesterday which was 3 hours before the above article went into the free Medium that New York Daily is in this instance.

 The honorable judge’s words of wisdom contain the best lesson any leader in Justice could learn from:

“Now that we’ve become a little bit more sophisticated in our thinking about what is and is not terrorism, now that we know a lot more about the conflict in Sri Lanka and the horrors visited upon these people, perhaps there’s a way to provide a fair measure of justice to all without condemning these men to essentially a life behind bars”

Mine were ‘the first question is ‘what is terrorism?’   Each person would construct it was per their own positions and experiences . None of mine – positions or experiences have thus far raised that need to list someone else a Terrorist.’

As per my inner search – as an Australian – I was positioned at lower levels than I had earned in the official system and even those who knew through their own positions - that I had earned relatively  higher positions failed to publicly uphold that value. In 1998 when Ms Pauline Hanson was ‘free’ to express her personal opinion – it was a Hindu Leader whom I did not consciously follow at that time –  who came to me. Australia, which recognizes Mother Mary Mackillop as a Saint – has the moral obligation to recognize that people of other faiths also would feel such Divinity. But instead I was punished.

The psychologist who assessed me wrote:

“CLINICAL ISSUES

Mrs. Paramasivam acknowledged that for several years she had been in communication with a range of people including Yoga Swami, Our Lady and Sai Baba the leader of an Indian Religious Group. She told me that Sai Baba was a saint and on the 5 November 1998 red powder materialized on her picture of him. She interpreted this as meaning that he was in communication with her and felt that it was a miracle, a sign of his love for society.

She said that Sai Baba was able to anticipate her thoughts and she felt comforted by this and said that she had experienced an intuitive relationship with Sai Baba and her communication with him had continued to this day. She described the communication as a “blissful state” it felt as if she did not have a  care in the world. She acknowledges that her current charges did not concern her because of the comfort she received from Sai Baba and said that he was the only one whose opinion counted with her.

On specific questioning Mrs. Paramasivam said that she had never heard external imaginary voices (auditory hallucinations), the communications were through her body. She mentioned that she was a follower of Gandhi and when she meditates she believes that she is able to connect directly with Gandhi’s mind and she referred to how this was a form of “mental telepathy”. She went on to tell me about a doctor who is now deceased. She believed that the doctor sends his thoughts to her and said that when he is reborn the work she is doing based on their partnership will benefit him.

While on bail Mrs. Paramasivam said she had made no attempt to go back to the university because she honoured her word and she has also honoured  her word by not sending any emails. However when asked if she would be able to guarantee that she would not send any emails in the future she said “why should I not educate them or share my experiences”. She again referred to her beliefs that Sai Baba was there to protect her and she was not concerned for her own well being. She told me that she was not a violent person, that she was someone who absorbs the pain so that others are protected and would never hurt anyone.

  

PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS AND OPINION

Mrs. Paramasivam has a paranoid psychosis. This condition has been present for several years and is characterized delusions of grandiosity, passivity and persecution and probable visual and auditory hallucinations, In addition she has prominent obsessional traits in her personality with a tendency to be quite moralistic, rigid and somewhat inflexible in her manner in relating to the world.

This was also the verdict by the Malaysian in his own words. To date I have not taken any medication for mental illness. Even if I did suffer from mental illness – as per someone else’s definition -  so long as I do not harm their values – they have no jurisdiction over me. As a Sovereign person – I have the right to define my own area of Sovereignty and so long as I live within those boundaries – I cannot be punished. When I take reward from another system – I am automatically bound by that system. To the extent I have enjoyed less benefits than I have earned in Australia – I am free of the boundaries of the system / institutional hierarchy. Before I realized this, I felt depressed and let down at the University of NSW – from which Institution, I expected much more integrity than other institutions I had worked for. A few like Dr. David Garlick – the doctor referred to in paragraph 3 of the above excerpt – believed that I was genuine and upheld it Publicly.

Like Projects – we need to complete our experiences in the privacy of our community to free ourselves of bondage. The project may look small – but the value when the project is completed – would be exponential. Such value merges naturally with the program. This is why where one religion is defined – others need to be defined – not as per numbers – but as per their values to their respective members. Buddha did not come when Buddhists were in need of protection from Tamil Tigers. They made a project of Buddha and as per the rules of Truth – Buddha would have gone first to those in need but did not have the support of the Constitution nor the Buddhist leaders.

If Hinduism is not equal to Buddhism – Buddhist political leaders including the current President and the Prime Minister must stay away from Hindu places of worship. Where Buddhism has ‘foremost’ label – they need to be duty bound to not show that they are open to other religions. To do so would be like the Army being friends with  the LTTE combatants. Relations need to be firmly defined and we need to stay within the borders of our positions. During a training session in English, one Buddhist Police officer in Vaddukoddai – started ‘telling me’ about Krishna and it was all confusion – like the Malaysian mentioned above. I reminded him that he was the student and I was the tutor there. We sailed smoothly from then on.

The danger with punishing a person without common belief is that we are likely to USE that person for our own purposes – for example show of armed power. Common belief helps us to include the person of lower status and work out a system unique to that relationship but exercise it as per Common language. Where someone confesses to something and it is punishable by law – but that person did what s/he did as per her/his conscience – the punishment needs to be minimal. Such punishment amounts to disciplinary action. Any more is to punish ourselves. This translates often as fear of the other person and the group that the other person belongs to.

I would have been desperate if I had not felt the support from Swami Sai Baba whom I had not seen physically at that time when the holy powder manifested.    To my mind only God is capable of coming to the support of those who are desperately in need and there is no human support at that place at that time. I have since tried to be there for someone who needs support that I can render. The Tamil Tigers are one such group because of the gap in belief and the excessive  punishment at their level. Innuendos such as those from the Malaysian – help me weaken my connection with those who ‘tell me’. Likewise self-governing minorities in Sri Lanka who are ‘told’ by Buddhist leaders including through the Constitution.

The leadership of Tamil National Alliance – the political group with the duty to prevent future wars has proven to be lacking in strength in this regard. As per Sri Lankan Daily News report under the heading ‘Foremost place for Buddhism in new Constitution, says Ranil’:

[Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent remarks that Buddhism would be given the foremost place in Sri Lanka’s new Constitution has sparked concern among sections.

“As a state, the President, I and all of us protect Buddhism, not through words, but through action,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said recently, the State-run Daily News newspaper reported.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said all political parties and religious leaders across faiths had “no issue in giving priority to protect Buddhism in the country.” He added the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main political grouping here representing Sri Lanka’s northern Tamils, agreed to retain those articles protecting Buddhism in the existing Constitution unchanged.

Exclusionary move

However, TNA parliamentarian and senior human rights lawyer, M.A. Sumanthiran, said he would oppose such a move. “If equality is a provision, then you cannot give primacy to one religion,” he told The Hindu on Wednesday. Terming the move “exclusionary”, he said while the TNA would not mind “some kind of recognition to Buddhism or Buddha’s teachings”, giving the religion the foremost place, explicitly, was discriminatory.

Buddhists are Sri Lanka’s majority religious group, accounting for about 70 per cent of the island’s population. Hindus are the largest religious minority, constituting 12.6 per cent of the population, while Muslims and Christians, respectively, make up 9.7 per cent and 7.6 per cent.

Following the January 2015 Presidential elections that brought about a regime change in Sri Lanka, the country embarked upon drafting a new constitution that, a section of lawyers and civil society hoped, would be “secular”.

Mr. Wickremesinghe’s remarks have made evident that the newly-elected government would retain the special place given to Buddhism in the 1972 and 1978 constitutions.

Senior constitutional lawyer Jayampathy Wickramaratne, who currently chairs a government-appointed committee to guide the Constitution-making process, said Sri Lanka is a “secular state” on the basis that there is no state religion. “To that extent, giving Buddhism the foremost place does not necessarily make the Constitution anything other than secular,” he told The Hindu.]

The TNA does not have the right to state that it would not mind some kind of recognition to Buddhism. Who is TNA to make such concessions outside the laws of democracy? An individual without  political portfolio has the right to such expressions but not a politically elected person through majority vote.

If Buddhists are ‘seen’ as an overwhelming majority and a Hindu fears that – that would mean that that group is driven by the seen and the heard. If anything, the minority need protection from such fears. If the higher powers of Buddhism are ‘known’ through the law – for example through Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution - a non-Buddhist would access that system less and less – especially where the rulings are highly subjective – as they are in Sri Lankan Courts also. Under those circumstances – religion becomes the Higher pathway for minorities. I know that it became to me. Without this ‘refuge’ victims would lose self-confidence and that is the first step towards mental disorder. Just because we live with those disappointments does not mean that we do not have disorders. We internalize the pain and then our God within makes the final judgment. When we accept that judgment as final – there is no more expectations and therefore no need for appeals – nor reverse judgments. The System reverses the judgment to the true owner of wrong doing. We merely identify with it. Those who make the stronger contribution to such manifestation – would know that God has delivered. Those who react at the lower level – as LTTE did and as Buddhist clergy do regularly – lose this opportunity to raise their pain and loss to the level of Truth/Divinity.

As per the above report:

[Senior constitutional lawyer Jayampathy Wickramaratne, who currently chairs a government-appointed committee to guide the Constitution-making process, said Sri Lanka is a “secular state” on the basis that there is no state religion. “To that extent, giving Buddhism the foremost place does not necessarily make the Constitution anything other than secular,” he told The Hindu.

Debate on secularism

If a country does not have an official state religion, it is secular, Mr. Wickramaratne said, giving examples. “India does not have a state religion, so it is secular. But Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, therefore Pakistan is not a secular state.”]

If the above legal expert says that Sri Lanka does not have a state religion – then there is obviously a problem between his mind order  and that of  the President who declared at the UN that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country. A White Australian Academic said to me in 1999, that Sri Lankans have a habit of  saying no, no, by shaking their head sideways but it was an expression of acceptance when they responded in words. That is what Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne is also doing – saying no, no, we are secular but within his brain Article 9 of the constitution is saying – yes, yes we are a Buddhist state. If these leaders do not have the courage to express their inner thoughts – then those of us who seek peace of mind – need to be left to our own laws – however primitive they may seem to others.

While these pundits are dilly dallying – those who are more closely connected to grassroots of Tamil Community  have acted in the right direction:

Siva Senai in Sri Lanka Gets Shiva Sena Support, Colombo Worried

[New Delhi: Shiv Sena in Mumbai has extended its support to a new Sri Lankan Tamil outfit called Siva Senai, triggering concerns among the mainstream politicians of the island nation that sectarian outfits will reopen wounds of a 20-year-old civil war that ended only in 2009.

The Siva Senai, based out of Vavuniya in the Tamil-dominated northern Lanka, is led by Maravanpulavu Sachithananthan. The party takes its name from Lord Shiva and plans to fight “coercive conversion” from Hinduism to Buddhism, the dominant Sinhalese religion……]

The wounds are there and the timeline would confirm that it was the President followed by the Prime Minister – who have interfered with the restructuring process towards a Secular State. In terms of maintaining our Sovereignty at all levels – non-Buddhists have to match ‘Buddhism foremost’ by ‘showing’ religious connections beyond Sri Lankan boundaries. If Buddhism is foremost – then Sri Lanka as it is defined legally is not Sovereign. Non-Buddhists have to extend their borders to include religious leaderships to maintain Sri Lanka’s Balance of Sovereignty. Swami Sai Baba came to me and to that extent Australia includes Sai Baba’s mind to maintain its Sovereignty. Muslims like the family of the above youth who were arrested  – are likely to shrink the borders of fellow Australians due to lower mind-order. Punishing them would not cure either side. When we fear – we mentally shrink our borders.

The above Hindu leader on the other hand has confirmed accessing Shiv Sena in Mumbai to help maintain that Sovereignty that every Hindu has the responsibility to uphold. He did not act to shrink Buddhists but Politicians fear shrinkage of their own space.

Lord Shiva, as per my belief is the Lord of the Mind. The mind driven by Truth / Love is a perfectly  orderly mind. Lord Buddha is also worshipped due to his mind being filled with Truth. If Buddhism derives any part of its power from Political Leaders – and the laws they make – Buddha is being reduced below that level. Where would a Buddhist go when the secular system lets her/him down? As per the Constitution s/he would not think of going to any non-Buddhist group which is obviously rendered minority status very firmly by the Constitution. One who has nowhere else to go – would tend to bring the other side down to its level. Buddhists are no exception to this rule. The most active religion at that time would be seen as their Natural Opposition. In Sri Lanka, it could be Hindus, Muslims or Christians.

If no religion is shown as being of higher status – we would all be free to follow our own instincts. In terms of origins – Hinduism does pre date Buddhism – and if a Sri Lankan Hindu is in need of support Lord Shiva would come to Sri Lanka as Swami Sai Baba came to Australia to balance the books of Sovereignty.