Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

01 November    2016

http://austms.blogspot.com.au/

Stopping the Boats and Buddhism Foremost

“I am a sceptic by nature and profession. I try not to be a cynic, but Australian politics makes that a little harder every day.” - Michael Pascoe of The Age  at  - ‘The Australian government’s biggest mission: stopping the stopped boats some more’

The above went straight to my heart and I smiled. The parallel that came to mind from my other parent Nation – Sri Lanka – is Buddhism foremost in the Sri Lankan Constitution – a Constitution that was drawn up by Buddhist Politicians to please Buddhist voters. Stopping the Boats likewise is to please White voters. Taken on their  own  - they are both illogical . But if one were to take the Truth of the whole – including Non-Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Non-Whites in Australia – that is the True picture even though it is not Democratic. Those of us who are truly democratic – need to renounce the gap between the status we earned and the status we have to live harmoniously in our respective environments. Often ‘seers’ live on their own with themselves to enjoy the fullness of their status.

Politics based on belief is healthy. Leaders who lack belief use extra words to create the picture they want in idle minds. The current Australian Government has only a slim majority to lead  and this keeps the intellect healthy. Taken at family level – where there is Love – self-sacrifice and sharing is Natural and the family functions as one unit. Where a family is structured on Common Principles and Values – usually through common religion and/or educational levels  -   the family tends to be highly regulated. The real structure in such instances is the sacrifice that raised the mind to learn the high principles and then the actual practice which requires discipline. Then we have the vast majority who are driven by emotional business of likes and dislikes and distribution of costs and benefits as per the seen and the heard – underpinned by likes and dislikes. Even though stopping the stopped boats may not make sense to Michael Pascoe – vast majority would like to hear their own voice -  that they have the power to stop the boats. Vast majority who are likely to use the maritime pathway – would be deaf to the threat – that they would never be allowed into Australia. The wording includes the qualification of ‘coming with a people smuggler’. To be a balanced law – it ought to apply to all those who arrive on Australian soil – i.e. – those arriving by air also. The Truth that this policy surfaces is that Australian politicians making this law  are into Business of Politics  on the basis of economics – which Mr. Turnbull is also good at. In many ways – this would offset the power of economic refugees who do not seek to belong in Australia once they are legally Australians.

One such indicator came recently from Global Tamil Forum based in the U.K. :

[The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) says that its proposals sent to the Public Representations Committee (PRC) on Constitutional Reforms had been ignored, while submissions from unknown diaspora groups had been taken into consideration.] The Island

It would be ‘Out of Order’  for the Sri Lankan Government to allocate status to Diaspora groups and individuals who contribute to Public Policy directly through the Government. The Government does not have the mandate. Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) on the other hand is taking the matter directly to the UN:

 ‘A Former US Attorney General, a Retired Indian Justice and TGTE to Challenge Sri Lankan Government at the United Nations’ at World News Report.

Whether it is Refugee Applications from those outside Australia or Ethnic Independence within Sri Lanka – they are both covered by Global laws and they are both global issues with branches in many countries. GTF does not have the mandate to direct credits in Policy Making in Sri Lanka. It has in the U.K. GTF, like Australian Tamil Management Service could share their wisdom in self-governance of global standards through branches in Sri Lanka and/or through shared activities at international level. The latter  does happen regularly. GTF does not have the mandate to influence policy directly and therefore it has no base to expect for its work to  be included in forming laws – the job of Legislature.

Even in the case of Sri Lankan organizations – only their Truth has a mandate in democratic system.  Often, non-government groups tend to provide alternate policy – as if they are better than the Government elected by the People. They may be cleverer but they do not have the mandate. The highest status in Democracy is to the elected representatives of the People/Ordinary members. That is the maximum a Democratic Government can grow upto in terms of Administrative status. The rest of Leadership cleverness needs to be diverted towards lateral sharing.

It is for this reason that there are needs to be  Separation of Powers between the Executive and the Judiciary. The Judiciary using the investment in past laws also may be taller in Administration than the current Executive. Where the Executive lacks knowledge of law – the Executive has the duty to use her/his Belief – the origin of which would be her/his electorate’s belief. Rights and wrongs need to be Consolidated to become structures and when thoughts are passed through such structure particular to an electorate – beyond one’s duty – the sacrifices become the force of Belief and the whole the form of that belief. Belief connects naturally to others who Believe.  Such belief of  the Executive needs to be the Consolidated value of her/his electorate as it is currently made up. In the case of Judiciary – one has the duty to use the minds of past in not only using old laws that have been practiced  but also how they were interpreted by other judicial  leaders in the past. This is hierarchical in structure and is of heritage  value.  Hence the need for Separation from systems driven by majority vote showing current values.

Lord Krishna says that Katpagatharu / the Wish Fulfilling Tree has its roots in heaven and its branches hang towards the earth. This to my mind means that the  Root Cause – is Truth. Values that are sustained through special pathways need to be integrated with current values. When we see only the fruits of the tree – we tend to over indulge in current pleasures and then are not able to  cope with the pain that follows the unearned pleasure. Those who recognize the roots become the roots and would be free of pain also. They would have had to forego their earned pleasures to get to the root and hence the bliss of Freedom from changes.

The Truth of Sri Lanka came out in action during Deepavali celebrations:

[A large gathering of distinguished guests participated at the Deepavali celebration held at Temple Trees on Friday (28) where the guests were treated with traditional Tamil cultural programmes and refreshments.
Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan accompanied by President Maithripala Sirisena, Chief Justice K. Sripavan, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister D.M. Swaminathan  enjoyed the dance and musical recitals performed at Temple Trees premises to celebrate Deepavali.

In recent years Deepavali, which means the festival of lights, has gathered momentum internationally with even a celebration held at White House to mark the festival. First Lady Michelle Obama who is in her final days at the prestigious house in Washington as the US Presidential election is round the corner, celebrated the Hindu festival with the Indian community with dance and music…………………. It was in this backdrop Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance Leader R. Sampanthan has placed his confidence in the present government and at the Deepavali celebration at Temple Trees, Sampanthan has said that he was hopeful before next Deepavali festival a durable solution could be reached to the Tamil question in the island.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his address responding to Sampanthan said that the Leader of the Opposition's expectations will be fulfilled before next Deepavali.
Let us hope the festival of lights will enlighten the leadership of this country to get rid of darker areas in the peace building process and live up to the hope of all peace loving citizens in the country] – Ceylon Today Editorial

Mr. Sampanthan has the responsibility to hope on behalf of all Tamils currently living in Sri Lanka and also has the duty to be conscious of the sacrifices made by previous Tamil Politicians as well as those who fought and died believing in and Defending their Tamil Cultural Freedom .  When this is recognized expressly at Policy level – there would be Peace and harmony. If minorities who feel Sri Lankan do not enjoy Peace – by Law of Nature majority also would not enjoy Peace. It would therefore be interesting to see how the Hon Ranil Wickremesinghe is going to have the Deepavali lattu at Policy level and eat it as well by pleasing Mr. Sampanthan.  The Diaspora that is independent of Politicians is like the Judiciary. We have the special duty to include all those who left Sri Lankan shores including by boats - due to lack of Independence to practice non-Buddhist culture on Sri Lankan soil. Not easy Mr. Wickremesighe.

The Truth is pictured more by this passage in the report  about  Deepavali celebrations:

[The Deepavali celebration at Temple Trees was held a week after the whole of Northern Province staged a massive protest condemning the Police shooting which had led to the deaths of two innocent Jaffna University students.
Though the dark era, haunting the North and the East and the country at large came to an end seven years ago, peace and reconciliation still remain a challenge in the island

People in the North and the East played a significant role in ousting the previous regime and paving way for good governance. …………Despite the arduous efforts taken by the present regime to stabilize peace and reconciliation, several unpleasant incidents remain a stumbling block on the path of burying the adverse past.]

The ordinary citizen would not read Ceylon Today or other high status Media Reports. We the leaders who work with those at grassroots – influence through our True sense of Independence. Others need to use the Global Management pathway – a pathway that Sri Lankan Governments are not yet very familiar with.

Be it in Australia or in Sri Lanka,  when ‘terrorism fears’ strike – they do not attack Politicians only. Only our Truth protects us from such fears. If as per that Truth – we consider ourselves to be above migrants / minorities – we need to live away from them. If we have invested in them as if they are a part of us and/or as if we are a part of them – then we are already protected from any harm by them. Where politicians are weak – we need to Do It Ourselves. Facilitating this is the media’s primary duty. Any Independent medium will facilitate self-governance.