Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam
6 October 2016
Good Little Governor or Lesser
Relative?
A member of mainstream Australian Community
asked me whether there was any domestic violence in the Tamil Community of Sri
Lankan origin. I had to pause and think before I responded. When I did respond
I highlighted that whatever domestic violence problems we may have – they are
better addressed by the Community itself than by the Australian Government
through Common Laws. This is also the case with Provincial Government of Northern Sri Lanka. I
was asked also about whether the Australian
Tamil Community thought that there was injustice through
unfair discrimination? My response was that to majority who became Australians
through the support of Tamil leaders – no there was no unjust discrimination
from mainstream group – for the simple reason they did not play a role in the
daily living of migrants. But to professionals like myself – yes there was. I
have however, learnt to accept that as a natural belief based connection and
hence distance myself from such persons – so our Australian investment in Equal
Opportunity is not diluted. I said that was also the difference between the
interpretation of the Sri Lankan ethnic problem by Jaffna Tamils and Colombo Tamils respectively.
Many members of the Tamil Diaspora who have assimilated with mainstream in the
countries they have migrated to – are like the Tamil Politicians who operate at
‘taken and given’ level rather than Make-It-Yourself level.
Neither Mr. Sathiya Moorthy who has used
Sunday Leader nor Mr. Rajasingham Jayadevan who has used Sri Lanka Guardian to
criticize Mr. Wigneswaran seem to have contributed to the making of an
independent Tamil Community in Sri Lanka through Northern Province. To both of
them – Mr. Wigneswaran is a higher relative or Equal in Opposition. Neither has
the authority to take higher position than Mr. Wigneswaran in the area where
the latter is the Chief Minister. The position we take gives policy structure
to expressions and actions and v.v. The above Australian of mainstream
community, for example demonstrated respect for my work and time – much more
than most Tamil community leaders did/do.
I consider those who respect me as my relatives and those who use me to ‘show’
their authority and/or work outcomes – as my equals. If we do not use policy to
define our position – we tend to carry the risk of ‘takeovers’. Between
relatives – the higher mind can read the junior mind. Hence confidential
disciplinary action in a hierarchical system – starting with the family.
There is a verse in Tamil Thirukkural which
translates as follows:
‘A
wife who may not worship god but who worships the husband as god has the
power to invoke rain’
The above applies to all those who consider
the higher relative in their relationships as being equal to god/governor. The
person occupying the position, may not be fit enough to receive such respect
but the real one who fits will. This real one may be from a past occupier of
that position or one who occupies parallel position in another unit. The
position is needed by the average person to structure and regulate their
mind-order. Hence even if one is queen/ king of another country, one must not
exceed the limits of the highest position in an Administrative structure which
is not expressly covered by Common law.
In Hinduism we have Mother, Father, Guru
and God – hierarchy. One who is attached to the outcomes shown by mother would
have difficulty going beyond those local borders. One who completes the
relationship with mother – would naturally take the Mother’s mind with hers/his
– into the next wider level – where Father has more experience than mother.
Likewise with the Guru and then merging with God. In terms of Nations – we have
Motherland, Fatherland, Guru-land and the Globe. Those who are yet to complete
their relationship with Motherland would tend to stagnate at that level – to the
benefits from the Motherland. To me, Sri Lanka is Motherland, Australia is Fatherland,
India is Guru-land and I have become global. Those who are still learning
through Sri Lanka but are living in more money-affluent countries – are yet to
complete their Motherland relationship. This is fine – but they cannot use the
status of their new countries vis a vis Sri Lanka, to ‘judge’ a Sri Lankan
position holder. Only Truth has the Power
to delegate that authority to a junior and/or a foreigner and that also as an
Equal and no more. Hence the use of Objectively measurable outcomes in
Democracy.
Interestingly,
the Hon Wimal Weerawansa – of rebellious
JVP origin, hit the nail on the head – at the lower level of interpretation:
[Wigneswaran’s
actions indirectly benefit govt - Wimal
October
5, 2016 05:35 pm
UPFA
MP Wimal Weerawansa today accused the Chief Minister of the Northern Province
C.V. Wigneswaran of engaging in a “racist political movement” and failing to
accomplish anything for the Tamil people in the North.
Wigneswaran
has not been able to do a single thing for the people in the North after he
became the Chief Minister and he has not received whatever was promised by the
international community, the former minister told reporters in Colombo.
What
has happened to Wigneswaran is the same thing that happened to Ranil
Wickremesinghe after coming to power, he alleged, adding that in order to save
himself from that crisis the Chief Minister is pushing the people in the North
towards “extreme racism”.
That
is the political core of Wigneswaran’s current operations, he said. “That
indirectly benefits the government.”]
The above completes the picture at the real
level of Administration in Northern Sri Lanka – that it is driven by money and
not respect for the higher mind. Mr. Jayadevan effectively said likewise – but from
the position of a Tamil relative – using flippant langauge. Through his Sri
Lanka Guardian article ‘Justice Wigi:
Time up for the Judgement Day !’ Mr. Jayadevan says to the Chief Minister:
[I
humbly request you to forget for some moment that you are the Chief Minister of
the NCP and think that you are a Supreme Court Judge wearing the judicial
attire of robe and hat to preside over a hearing and adjudge on a hypothetical
Provincial Council that was formed under the 13th Amendment to the constitution
of Sri Lanka.
The
Claimant’s case is that the said Council:
…………………..
The government allocates funds for the effective functioning of the
Council.
6.
The Chief Minister and the Councillors are the paid servants of the government to
discharge their contractual responsibilities under 13th Amendment to the
Constitution.
7.
Any international engagement with the Council on its defined mandate must have
the approval of the government. ]
To Mr. Wigneswaran – Judiciary is his
Mother-Profession and Politics is his father-Profession. They are different
positions and they are defined by their respective criteria. Mr. Wigneswaran
needs to have independent mind-structures in the two positions. It is to
prevent indiscriminate mixing of authorities – that we have the Doctrine of
Separation of Powers. In a Democracy – where outcomes are produced at lower
level – this separation needs to be seen at physical level.
Not only Mr. Wigneswaran but Mr. Jayadevan
is also guilty of acting in breach of the above Doctrine. Mr. Wigneswaran wore
it because his strength came from that position and to his mind it was that
position that earned him his current position. Mr. Jayadevan by asking Mr.
Wigneswaran to go back to his mother–position was confirming his own return to
Sri Lanka due to his ‘attachments’ rather than to share as an equal.
Once powers are allocated to Provincial
Councils – it is the duty of the Central Government to allocate funds
proportionate to itself – to the delegated authority – to function through
those allocated powers. Again, in a democracy – people usually need to see
financial representation to feel the enthusiasm to participate. The Chief Minister
and the Councilors are NOT paid servants of the Government. The Central
Government is the Bank Facility - through whom they receive their monies from
the People.
This was a topic I discussed with the
Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in the early days of
my battle against the Executive. The Commission received its funds from the
Federal Government. But their mandate was global and hence they cannot be
Administratively a junior relation of the Federal Government. Unless one is
independent in terms of money resources – one is likely to remain a junior of
the Central power. The higher resource is Human Resource and the highest is
Policy. Anyone who uses policy genuinely is a self-governing person. No
Administrator has power over them – except through the law. A good governor will accept any punishment
through law as being needed by the Administrator who is not yet a governor.
Using the Australian system as example – Governors
are representatives of the Monarch. They
are not active Administrators in Democracy. The elected Prime Minister and the
Premiers are the active Administrators.. Likewise in Sri Lanka Governors of the
Provinces are the President’s representatives.
Mr. Wigneswaran – as Chief Minister is the parallel of Premier of a State. He
cannot be dictated to by the Central Government. The Chief Minister has the
Responsibility and the Right to apply the laws governing the position – to operate
independent of the Central Government. He is not a relative of the Prime
Minister – the CEO of Sri Lanka. He is the Equal Parallel of the Prime
Minister. Action could be taken against the Chief Minister only through the law
and not as a junior relative. Unless there is a Law that specifically requires
a delegated authority to go through the Central Power – for specific reasons –
any CEO is free to act as per her/his own will and face the consequences if
s/he is questioned through the judiciary.
Governors represent our Truth. When we are
active in Administration we disqualify ourselves as Governors and v.v.
Mr. Wigneswaran by his Natural qualities –
is more of a Governor than an Administrator. Since the time Mr. Wigneswaran became
Chief Minister – there were many opportunities for Tamils with wisdom in Devolved
Public Administration to assist Mr. Wigneswaran. Thus far – despite my
contributions to democracy at grassroots level – especially in Vaddukoddai – Mr.
Wigneswaran has not shown any recognition to include me at least as an advisor.
But the higher relative includes the lower relative – so that the minds become
One. Hence I share my wisdom as a good little governor and where administration
is needed I take the lower position as per demonstrated by the other person
occupying the higher position at that time. When I do that – Truth takes over
and delivers the real outcomes. That was how my book ‘Naan Australian’ came
back to Australian National Library who present themselves as follows:
['We cannot understand the present or plan
for the future without the knowledge of the past.'
Prime Minister Harold Holt, Stone Ceremony March 1966]
Prime Minister Harold Holt, Stone Ceremony March 1966]
My book describes my life as an Australian
migrant – so we Australians can plan for the future. Unless I thought at the level
of Prime Minister – my book would not have been carried there through Natural
Forces. I do not usually know how it happens but I know it happens. Hence I
share my Sri Lankan experience at global standards so all of us can plan for
global Sri Lanka – not through our cleverness but through our Truth.
Mr. Sathiya Moorthy states through his
article ‘If Tamils ‘Rise’, Would Sinhalas Be Far Behind?’:
‘For the (n+1)th
time in post-Independence ethnic history of the nation, Tamil moderates are
giving away political space to extremists, for no real immediate fault of the
majority Sinhala community or the Sri Lankan State. The last time it happened
in a much bigger way than the recent ‘Ezhuga Tamil’, or ‘Rise, Tamil’, or
better still, ‘Tamil Spring’, the moderates had possibly hoped to arrest the
emergence of youth militancy in the Seventies through the ‘Vaddukottai
resolution’. It ended in the LTTE and the Tamil miseries that have since
accompanied it.’
The reality of all minorities is that if we
are not actively conscious of our Sovereignty as an independent Community group
– we are likely to become the lesser relatives of majority with the power to
form Government. That is the way of Assimilation – which many Sri Lankan Tamil
leaders are guilty of. This consciousness is high at policy level and that is
exactly what Mr. Wigneswaran has demonstrated. I identify with it because of my
own experience of tiredness of being the lesser relative despite contributing
directly as if I were the CEO in that issue. The election of Mr. Wigneswaran to
leadership of Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka happened due to his achievements in
the Judiciary coupled with his contribution to Hindu affairs. In effect he is a
Governor and it would be wrong to expect him to be an Active Administrator
using global systems.
Those who seek to add their services to the
People of North within Administrative areas – have to submit their work through
the Chief Minister or the local representative particular to that area. I do
this all the time. I do not ‘tell them’ what should be done as per my mind
order. I highlight why they were wrong as per their rules. I offer my services and if they don’t take
them – I continue through my own
individual powers. The latter tires me out but I care and therefore I continue.
I believe that I am developing a
heritage that my children and grandchildren would be able to work for their own
purposes. I am happy with that.
Members of the Diaspora may have grand
ideas of how Public Administration needs to be carried out in areas where they
think they have power due to their money-wealth. The reality of post-war Sri
Lanka is that the officers concerned have given up on themselves. They use
their past and not the law. Let us not forget that that past includes Tamil
Tiger minds the result of which opened global opportunities to those who left
Sri Lanka due to the war. Those who left Sri Lanka due to being challenged at
value level – are genuine refugees. Others are economic migrants. The former
would share at policy level but only after they have completed their
independence experience in their new nations. Others have to use the business
pathway as Equals. Unless Diaspora leaders address the parallel issues within
the Tamil Community and/or at Government level - in their new nations – they would
lack the moral authority to even advise – let alone ‘tell’, Sri Lankan leaders.
Let Mr. Rajasingham Jayadevan and Mr.
Sathya Moorthy place their hands on their hearts and state that the local Tamil
Communities that they think they are leaders of have eliminated the dowry
system in any form. Until then – they do not have the moral authority to
question someone else’s system. If another ethnic war flares up – these leaders
also carry the responsibility due to their failure to act in time to prevent by
sharing their higher status unconditionally through common belief as Sri
Lankans.
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