Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

24 October   2016

Buddhists – the Disadvantaged Group in Sri Lanka – as per CERD valuation

I recalled our Sydney daughter making tea (Ceylon tea)  for us last week and that she first warmed the pot with hot water. This morning when making tea – I recalled that and first warmed the pot that our Melbourne  daughter gave us. The pot as well as the process of warming is their common culture which is different to mine. Theirs is more ‘upper-class’ while mine is more practical given my multi roles in the one day and my current capacity to cope with all of them. As per my assessment, in terms of making/developing  ‘policy’ – it is the other way around. I find our children including the basic values we invested in as a family – but showing it in their own diverse forms. I appreciate more and more my own acceptance of my parents’ discipline which conditioned me to accept difficulties beyond my control in wider world. I believe that this is a strong component of the forces that led me to Commonness. That which was within my control – I did not compromise on at policy level.  I accepted relatively lesser benefits for greater contribution – especially here in Australia, but put my foot down when my own self-respect was being tested again and again.

Now I realize that the more we sacrifice for common good – including by accepting unearned disciplinary action against us – the more regulated we become and eventually we share that regulated mind-structure within our common home/workplace/nation/world. But towards this we need to not compromise on common values but sacrifice earned benefits. Often we are demoted by custodians of power through rules and regulations as well as majority practices – even though majority times we would have upheld the fundamental values of those laws and regulations. Once the fundamental values are upheld – the laws and regulations need to be lost conscious of. They are mere scaffoldings.

When I married the second time – my status was demoted by family leaders – who overrode their knowledge of my good conduct during the tenure of my first marriage. As per my inner knowledge I was never allocated high status for my good conduct during my first marriage – because my first husband did not hold high professional status. It was therefore not a clever marriage but as per my assessment I was a good wife. I believe that a good daughter becomes a good wife. Hence in my own internal assessment – I was not losing any status through my second marriage. The mistake I made was to expect others to understand – especially others carrying good-wives status to understand. But that did not happen. My parents supported me – because by this time – they realized that I was a good daughter and they wanted me to have an equal status partner – so life within the community would be more easy.

Like in the case of Tamil leaders being demoted by the Tiger label, from time to time, the ‘demotion’ of my marital status  was used against me and it did upset me – especially when it came from those who received the returns from MY investment in commonness with wider world especially through my work as a professional. But unlike the Tamil Tigers I did not react and express my freedom prematurely. I learnt to live with the little I had. If we take chastity as the fundamental value of one man-one woman law – then such demotion when unearned raised the internal structure of my good conduct in enjoying marital pleasures to the higher level. Usually abstinence and moderation  bring about regulated conduct and regulated conduct is usually healthy and good. The deeper my feelings the higher the promotion until it became Energy. This is why women in Hinduism are recognized as Energy. This Energy has the power of curing and uniting confidentially. Hence mothers are recognized as the binding force of the family. The more chaste a woman is the stronger the protection from rape – either raping or being raped, in a group that is bound by that woman’s Energy. Hence the respect for mother – through everyday processes. God within us balances the books to uphold our inner dignity through which this intuitive power is maintained.

Throupathi of Mahabharatham to my mind was chaste and was married to five brothers. Throupathi was blessed by Lord Krishna when she got married through this unusual arrangement. The Opposition used that marriage to ridicule the Good group and called Throupathi a whore and tried to strip her in public. Throupathi was naturally upset.  But because the costs she paid for such a marriage was far greater than the benefits she received – she was able to raise her chastity to Energy level through regular living. When she was allocated the status of a whore – she went to the depths of pain and this invoked the Divinity within. Externally this Divine Energy appeared in the form of  Krishna who  supplied her with endless lengths of sari until the stripping stopped. But the curse Throupathi placed on the other side was strong enough to divide and separate the family to ultimately manifest the great war.

The opportunity to develop this intuitive power is lost to those who expressly claim ‘advantage’ through law and/or intimidation. As per Press Trust of India report ‘Buddhism's position in Lanka won't change: Sirisena’, one is entitled to conclude that first place to Buddhism is the Law in Sri Lanka under the current government also. The report states also:

[The foremost place accorded to Sri Lanka’s majority religion of Buddhism will be preserved in its new Constitution, President Maithripala Sirisena has said. “Buddhism’s position, coming since 1972, will not be changed,” Sirisena told a religious gathering in the eastern port district of Trincomalee on Friday.

Dismissing the Opposition claims that Buddhism’s position in the country is to be diluted in the new Constitution, the President said: “We have not finalised anything yet.]

This confirms that the President recognizes the Political use of Buddhism to divide Buddhists. This particularization and compartmentalization on the basis of religion means also – one man one religion policy. If the President thought that he was likely to follow another religion it is highly unlikely that he would allocate Buddhism the foremost place. If Chastity is the fundamental value of such marriage law – then Spirituality  is the fundamental value of any religious law.  To be complete and Independent – the Constitution needs to recognize this as a special advantage to the disadvantaged group – which in this instance is ‘Buddhists’ in Sri Lanka. The instrument through which this is measured comes from the UN.

Article  1.4 of the UN’s  ‘International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’  which facilitates such special provision states:

[Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups and that they shall not be continued after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.]

As per my knowledge  Sri Lanka is bound by the above Convention through Accession. Under those circumstances – Buddhists need to be declared as a disadvantaged group for the purposes of bringing them up to Equal level of practice as other religions.

In the alternative Separation is needed to protect minorities from this Double Advantage to Buddhists. Unless there is express confirmation that Buddhists have lesser knowledge of Secular laws relative to other religious groups in Sri Lanka, the ‘foremost’ status amounts to additional authority to Buddhists. Each time a person uses Buddhist as well as Secular systems to take up authority – even amongst Buddhists – they are naturally entitling others who have earned through their work similar status but through the Common pathway only – to the real promotion of mind – eventually to the level of Divine Energy which is the foundation of Common Belief. They are the real Mothers of Sri Lanka. Where members of minority religions achieve this before Buddhists they are the real religions leading Sri Lanka.

The recent demotion by the Sri Lankan President – of Independent Commissions of Investigations resulted in the resignation of the Director General of Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption,  reported as follows:

“President Maithripala Sirisena publicly warned that he would take action against the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) as well as the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for 'pursuing a political agenda' at a function held on 12 October in Colombo. The President irately said those institutions should not operate according to any political agenda at the expense of justice. In response to this statement, then Director General of CIABOC, now Additional Solicitor General Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, tendered her resignation. After many rounds of discussion held with several parties, the President finally accepted her resignation on 19 October.” - I am a tough administrator – Dilrukshi – Ceylon Today report.

Taking Ms Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe’s assessment to be genuine and therefore true about herself – one could ask whether Ms Wickeramasinghe’s use of Secular laws and rules would have been too harsh for someone who believed in Buddhist Dharma which is likely to have pardoned a good citizen who uses public money to help the needy. The religious pathway usually takes the person as a whole and not just as per known acts.

When we take benefits without having earned them – we become welfare recipients or stealers.  Unless we are grateful to the person or the common source – we lose internal status. Given that the President recognizes that the Republican Constitution included this special provision – one could conclude that the provision was included  to prevent JVP type of resurrection which started in 1971. Even now the above confirmation is against the Joint Opposition and is therefore internal to Buddhists. With that clause – the funds and status  they receive from other sources become welfare to all takers – including Buddhist Political leaders. When they are not grateful to providers including within Sri Lankans who are entitled to such common resources – the takers  lose their ability to unite the Nation through Belief. A Nation bound by Belief does not need Reconciliation. One that needs Reconciliation needs express Separation of Powers – in this instance between Buddhist Provinces and Non-Buddhist Provinces. That way Federalism would happen with the blessings of  the respective gods. Secularism – including amongst JVP and LTTE followers – becomes one such religion. They would naturally combine forces and contribute to each other’s uprising. That is the way of Natural Justice which comes with built-in punishment. Hence the saying – man proposes and god disposes. Every person who is true to her/himself is god.