Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

28 October   2016

Law & Order or Terrorism?

[Udalagama was released on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000 and three sureties of Rs. 500,000 each. The court order comes just weeks since President Maithripala Sirisena launched a verbal attack against the arresting and remanding of Army Intelligence Officers who have been involved in various criminal activities including being linked to murder.] – Colombo Telegraph report - Under Pressure From Sirisena, Army Intelligence Officer Involved In Lasantha Murder Released On Bail

[While the fall out of the President’s remarks led to the eventual resignation of Bribery Commissioner Dilrukshi Wickramasinghe, the issue is likely to end there. No commissioners of the independent commissions have resigned and the United National Party (UNP), though it may be feeling aggrieved, has not made any comment on the President over his outburst.] – Daily News Article – Laying Unrest to Rest by Lakdev Liyanagama

The strongest causal force in both manifestations is the Sri Lankan President who has already confessed to using his Conscience in the case of Bribery Commissioner.

Using our Conscience is an entitlement so long as it is to judge thyself and those who are part of thyself. No one who judges her/himself through her/his conscience would be disorderly. But when judging others – one has to use the Common Law and/or the Truth of the person with Deeper Common Interest in the relationship/the whole. They say in Tamil that the pain of headache is recognized only when it happens to oneself. The media has finally dug deeper about the President’s interference because the first example above is about the murder of leading Independent media personnel – Mr. Lasantha Wickrematunga. But that media is yet to find fault with the Buddhism Foremost declarations by the President. The reason is the same – personal measures are indiscriminately extended to cover the Nation by using the Common License.  

The Daily News author continues to state:

[The incidents in the North in contrast could potentially be more disruptive to the government in the long term. It all began on Friday when two male students attached to the Jaffna University sustained fatal injuries after they were shot at by the Police for disobeying orders to stop their motorcycle at a roadblock at the Kulappidi Junction in Kankesanthurai……… Hence the government was taking no chances. A special team from the CID was dispatched from Colombo to commence an investigation into the incident and security in the area was intensified. Almost immediately President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the authorities to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident.]

My question is - why is the President getting involved / interfering at this stage? Is the problem a Law and Order problem or a Terrorism problem? This question could be asked of  Mr. Lasantha Wickrematunga’s death inquiry also. As per most published reports the Minister for Law and Order is the Hon Sagala Gajendra Ratnayaka, MP. The immediate past President of Sri Lanka and Mr. Sirisena’s then boss – held this portfolio also. Hence Mr. Sirisena’s actions could be attributed to his following of his former boss.   In essence this interference is for the same reason why Mr. Sirisena claimed that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist Country. It is as per his Conscience which tells him that he came to power because he is Buddhist. Hence the sharing of power with his family and with his Buddhist community. It is so very natural – so much so that he does not seem to think it is wrong. It would not be in his world – just as LTTE was not wrong to their families and others who had earned the right to be in the Armed Forces but did not get the jobs because not only were they too far away from Central powers but were close to those who felt discriminated against. But until it happens to them – the media is not likely to dive deeper into the Indian Ocean to find the Pearl.

Mr. Liyanagama of Daily News states:

[Police killings, as evidenced by the spate of killings of African Americans by Caucasian policemen in the United States recently, evoke public criticism and a strong reaction everywhere in the world. In Sri Lanka, the killing of university students has almost always had political connotations and repercussions. This incident is not only a death due to Police action, it also a killing of a university student and has the potential to escalate into an ethnic issue as well.

Hence the government was taking no chances. A special team from the CID was dispatched from Colombo to commence an investigation into the incident and security in the area was intensified. Almost immediately President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the authorities to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident.]

Yesterday, Mr Malinda Seneviratne who to my mind is also a Media Leader – responded as follows to my article ‘Youth Rebellion and Democracy’:

[Northerners/Southerners: note the sleight of hand here.  Immediately the impression is given that North is all about Tamils, South about Sinhalese, and that it's a 50-50 divide in terms of territory and population.  I won't say 'Think Gajalakshmi Param' because I am sure Gajalakshmi Param HAS thought.  ]

Yes, I thought as if I were those students’ families and how hard Tamils had to struggle to get that University in Jaffna as partial compensation for the disadvantage due to quota system to enter the Common Universities. The Corporate wisdom of Sri Lankan politicians would include this history. All those who feel part of Jaffna will include this in their roots – as Belief. Mr. Malinda is also guilty of cronyism for failing to work out the risks to this University when the President declared that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country. If he had used Common Law – he would have derived the calculated Intellectual answer which I knew intuitively through Belief.  

During  the elections to appoint a Vice Chancellor for Jaffna University were taking place in 2011 – I prayed at the temple of Lord Shiva within the University premises.  That University has a Hindu heritage and I needed to draw on that deeper power beyond the seen and the known through which Professor Hoole is quite rightly challenging the Vice Chancellor’s Administration. Professor Hoole’s pain is similar to mine at the University of NSW – where as per my knowledge there is no Church. I did not have that secular pain in Jaffna just as Professor Hoole as per his revelations does not seem to have had it in America.

These are root powers that manifest naturally when we are not conscious of them. This is fine – so long as we do not use them on others. If we do – then we would manifest their own past and to the extent benefits were desire-driven – the fears also would surface. Hence as per my insight - Buddhism foremost invoked Siva powers – not only through Siva Senai – but also through the University of Jaffna carrying Lord Shiva Belief in its roots.

The lesson we need to learn from the above is that social media which when genuine works more through belief  than through human laws - has been more powerful than the official media which has been taking the ‘softly-softly’ approach with the Sri Lankan Government but hard condemnation of the Northern Province’s Chief Minister who had the responsibility to express as per the Common Belief of the  People who elected him. The birth of Siva Senai and the killing of the Jaffna University students are all manifestations in support of Separation AFTER the President declared that Sri Lanka was a Buddhist country. It is common habit for the current government to act as if the group led by the immediate past President is their real opposition. The Tamil Community’s TNA leaders in Parliament had the responsibility to Oppose the President’s declaration at the UN. They did not. Every non-Buddhist member of that Parliament using Democratic pathway to get into their positions - had the responsibility to join the official Opposition and claim Equal position (the 50:50 referred to above) as a coalition of Religious forces. They did not but others to whom their religion was as important did – in their own ways.

My own contribution is to prevent injustice. Towards this I share my commonness by being part of the sections of the community where I am respected as a wise elder. Each time they respect me physically and/or mentally – they get a dose of that commonness. Mr. Sirisena is lacking in this with other cultures. Hence his presence will invoke separation until he steps down from or out of that Common Position. Due to his loyalty to his former boss – he would continue to protect the ‘victory against the LTTE’ and also the armed forces that made it possible. To the extent this victory was earned by enforcing one-sided laws such awakening would also awaken the Tamil Tiger forces.

When I met eastern LTTE leader Karuna Amman in 2003 during the ceasefire period – he said that both sides were waiting to see who would fire first. Those who are clever but not good, will continue to awaken opportunities to fight. That is the way of the young and the restless.

Mr. Liyanagama concludes:

[Even then it would not resurrect the two undergraduates who had their lives snuffed out in a most unfortunate manner but it will at least ensure that their deaths do not lead to an unnecessary conflagration that consumes the nation in ethnic divisions and creates conditions for more unrest yet again.]

To my mind the death of the Jaffna University  undergraduates happened for the same reasons as the death of Journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga. Both due to desire through naming those who are not part of themselves – as Terrorists. This invokes the Ravanas in the Tamil Community also.

 Desire has speed. Coupled with position power – it would continue to override Intellectual Discrimination until it is returned to sender after the excitement  wears off and/or when the benefits of those who have sacrificed towards common good are damaged and/or are taken away. That’s when Belief invokes Itself. We then become mere messengers or observers. There are many of us within the Tamil community to invoke such powers subconsciously. All those who sacrificed earned benefits towards the Dignity of Independence – and are seen and treated as part of the ‘other’ side including by the media – carry this power. It is for these reasons that such elders’ blessings are sought even by the cleverest of performers.

Those in power who truly seek to prevent war – need to raise the value of these students and Lasantha Wickrematunga to Policy level.  That is the way to redeem themselves of their own sins.