Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

23 October   2016

Happy Birthday to Hon Wigneswaran

This morning during meditation I thought much about Mr. Wigneswaran and his value to Sri Lanka. I appreciated that Mr. Wigneswaran continues to hold his position of Chief Minister, despite the challenges faced by him in his new position. If at least a few of us appreciate the real contribution by Mr. Wigneswaran, to the identity of Tamils as an educated Community, we would be prevent the many of becoming traitors to Northern Province which continues to invest in Education at family level. That’s an inheritance we carry forward which has supported us in the many Nations we have migrated to. Education for life renders higher order to our conduct. Through my own experiences, I believe that we never lose our Independent Investment in Education. All families that sacrifice pleasures to educate their children – contribute to this Independent Investment in Education. I know through my own life that mine led me ultimately to realize the values of Research and Teaching – which are the core values of a University – the highest Institution in Education.

With all this foremost in my mind, I opened my mail this morning. There it was – the last mail last night – under the heading ‘SL  -......" Eluga Thamil ".  -  .Tigerization of Wigneswaran.......... Eurasia  Review’ – sent by a Sri Lankan Diaspora leader. To many it would be coincidence. But as per my feelings, including that subject matter in my article is a need for Sri Lanka. It is so because I believe in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka believes in me. That’s the soul connection. A few years back, when we at the Carlingford Sai Center here in Sydney, were celebrating  Swami Sathya Sai Baba’s birthday – I was elected through a raffle to cut the cake. It is Common Belief in that group that Swami nominates the person to take His place at that time and hence the raffle. I felt deeply touched and said to the President who is also a strong devotee – that I needed the recognition due to my difficult service in Sri Lanka. To me there is no higher recognition than the one from Swami who came to me in my deepest hour of need in Professional life. A young devotee – Praba Sivapathasundaram said with deep appreciation that he had also wanted the recognition for me and was so very happy when it happened. They as a family continue to serve Sri Lanka through various avenues. Hence Praba appreciated the value of such nomination at the time of my need. The need of this hour is for Sri Lankans not to be fooled by money and lose their hard earned opportunities to pursue Independence and harmony through Dialogue and Good Conduct – for which we need to focus on Education for Life – as Swami Sai Baba often said. Hence to me it was no coincidence that I opened the above email with an Academic’s analysis regarding Mr. Wigneswaran on his birthday.

The form of my belief based values today therefore – is mainly through Mr. Wigneswaran as a Sri Lankan. It is easier for the average reader to draw up the picture when there is an opposite side. This has come through that email through which the above mentioned article by an Academic -  Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan who is Chair of the Conflict Resolution Department, Salisbury University, Maryland, USA, has published his analyses.

Let’s take the following passage  to register the picture that Dr. Keethaponcalan has of Mr. Wigneswaran:

[Vigneswaran’s transformation as champion of Tamil rights is sudden and startling. First, during the war, when the Tamil youth were sacrificing their lives, Vigneswaran was nowhere to be seen near the Tamil nationalist politics. As far as I know, he does not have a history of doing anything to promote Tamil interests during the war. He probably did not even visit the war affected areas until the war was over in 2009. ]

Given that Dr. Keethaponcalan is an Academic publishing his work through Public space, he has a duty to use the same base / principle to assess and mark rights and wrongs. Hence I ask myself - On what basis does Dr. Keethaponcalan conclude that ‘Tamil youth were sacrificing their lives’ ?   Using myself as the base measure – my conclusion is that between Sacrifice and Earning Benefits – the ‘Tamil youth’ were driven by the drive to earn a living which was of a higher standard within the LTTE camps than in their homes – predominantly lower caste homes. Many, especially the more educated folks also felt challenged to use their skills. To that extent they are no more sacrificial than the youth in Sri Lankan Armed Forces. If we accept that the Tamil youth sacrificed – then we must accept also that Sinhalese in Armed Forces sacrificed – and hence understand why any government dependent on the Armed forces would protect them from public scrutiny – as the President indicated recently.

I lived with Tamil Tigers in 2003 when I had the call through UNDP to structure a Public Admin system for the Tamil Tigers. Given that I did not make any attempts in that direction and the invitation came through a Yoga Swami devotee,  I concluded that my services were needed and I was ready for the service – as per my wisdom in Public Administration. Now I realize that I had the call to confidentially cure the money weaknesses in the system which deteriorated our consolidated investment in Higher Education and therefore Higher level good conduct.

If therefore Mr. Wigneswaran had gone to war areas in 2003 – he would not have come to the rescue of Northern Province to effectively uphold the 13^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution under India’s leadership influence. Relatively speaking the LTTE leader was grateful to Mr. M.G.Ramachandran – who became Chief Minister due to his popularity through cinema, with those who liked to see themselves as fighting warriors. That money came with the negatives in that occupier of Chief Administrative position and the negatives in the people who elected him and hence returned as their karma when the Hon Rajiv Gandhi was killed in Tamil Nadu by the Tigers. The LTTE’s collusion with the then Government of Sri Lanka to oust the Indian Peace Keeping Force – also confirmed that the feelings LTTE had for Tamil Nadu were not deep enough to appreciate their funding as shared ownership. Mr. Wigneswaran at the time of the call to join TNA – was already helping the victims of war – especially the youth. I met him for the first time on one such occasion at a Colombo temple. The experience was not extraordinary nor trivial. Hence I would not have expected Mr. Wigneswaran to have had the call before the Provincial Council elections. By the same token if Mr. Wignewaran has not entered politics – it is highly unlikely that Tamil power would have worked to oust Mr. Rajapaksa. It’s the force that we intuitive influence that is most powerful. The Common value that suffered most during the war – is the Educational value that all Sri Lankans have invested in. That value was set aside to make way for armed forces.

Mr. Wigneswaran as an individual is devoted to Hinduism. To my mind it was that investment that placed him in the position that came into being through the 13^th Amendment – which is a major milestone achieved by Tamil rebels at all levels and in all forms during all periods of Sri Lanka’s existence as a separate country. It was also good for Sri Lanka to use that structure in other parts to practice Democracy.

Those who have shared their educational values with Northern Province would identify with the value added by Mr. Wigneswaran – an educated  Sri Lankan of Tamil origin  - holding that position. If we have our education through Common Sri Lankan resources – especially minds – then our education belongs to Common Sri Lanka. Even Mr. Wigneswaran has no right to separate and allocate credit to particular areas. So far he has not expressly done so – but the indicators are that it may get to that if he gives up on himself by reacting to the young and the restless. I went all the way from Australia to serve at grassroots level – but I continue to a nobody to Tamils – even in Courts and Public Offices. The way I started in Australia from zero status as a professional – I have had to start from zero base in Sri Lanka – expect in places like Air Lanka / Sri Lankan Airlines where staff I trained are still there and continue to appreciate my training. This has helped me preserve my Independence and therefore I am clean of the negatives of Subjective Influence in those systems. In a Vaddukoddai testamentary matter, our lawyer Mr. Manivannan keeps arguing in Court that I am a Chartered Accountant capable of Administering the Estate of my husband’s brother but I doubt that the Jaffna Judiciary are registering that value. It feels as if the lower standards of education have captured the higher standards – through armed invasion and its influence. To my mind, Mr. Wigneswaran being in that position means there is hope that Tamils would preserve their investment in higher standards and realize Independence and self-governance through the higher pathway – without physical separation. Every person to whom Sri Lanka is home adds Independence to her/his ethnic group. Such persons do not need Separation.  They would function independently anywhere anytime. Mr. Wigneswaran may say separation in words – but the higher mind would take it as Opposition and not separate country. One who reads him at soul level – will know the Truth. Tamils pulled him into Politics and those who did are responsible to support him through the higher intellectual pathway.

Dr. Keethaponcalan continues to state:

[Second, in the first year of his tenure in office or to be precise, when Rajapaksa was in power, Vigneswaran was bending backwards to please and work with the government in Colombo. He did not protest until January 2015. Does this mean that the Rajapaksa government was more accommodative than the present government? Obviously not. Therefore, it is clear that the Eluga Thamil event, at least partially, was motivated by politics.]

When we read public figures – we read them through the dominant investment by us. Dr. Keethaponcalan seems to be reading Mr. Wigneswaran through his / Dr. Keethaponcalan’s Political mind. But I read Mr. Wigneswaran through my investment in Public Administration and Judicial systems. Eluga Thamil and the call for North and East to be under one Government – are all seen by me to be towards keeping Tamils as part of Sri Lanka but as an Equal force to majority race – so majority would not ‘invade’ or intimidate through majority power. Without this ongoing reminder – we Tamils would either become like the Aborigines of Australia or if the Diaspora is politically active to settle old scores with new alliances – with groups looking to invade one way or the other, we would continue in war-mode. Likewise Sri Lanka as a whole with India and China taking over.

Mr. Wigneswaran continues to carry Tamil heritage in Commonness and that needs to be valued and treasured to motivate others including those in Northern Sri Lanka – who are the most needy ones in terms of leadership through the higher pathway. The TNPF – led by the great G.G.Ponnambalam’s grandson is a strong opposition to TNA which is strongly political at the level of Tamil Community but seems dry of Opposition intelligence at National level. I see Mr. Wigneswaran as an Advisor to them – especially to the legal heads within TNPF. The average Tamil needs to see the other side to picture the transaction / matter. It’s good for Administration. Who can better represent such leadership than Mr. Wigneswaran?

Happy Birthday Mr. Wigneswaran and please know  that there are at least a few Sri Lankans who have not forgotten your contribution to Commonness. Truth may be forgotten by even the carrier but Truth does not forget Itself because Truth does not remember Itself. Like the Sun Truth is always there as an Eternal Power. You are truly valuable to Tamils as well as Sri Lankans. May Mother Shakthi continue to empower you from within to hold leadership positions within the Community – in one form or the other and realize the higher values of your birth . Hence  many more returns of this valuable day.