Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

31 December   2016

LTTE Infiltrating the Government?

‘Our expectation is that we should find a permanent and lasting solution to the national question.

The new Constitution in the New Year, should bring about this achievement.’ Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, in a message issued for the New Year

I am officially an Australian of Sri Lankan origin living in Australia – as per the highest status allocated to me in 1994/95 when I was promoted from being Financial Controller to Consultant by the New South Wales Government. That is the point at which we – Australian employers and myself – have declared our common valuation of a Sri Lankan trained Chartered Accountant, to the world. From that point onwards – I am self-governing citizen of that standard. My question to Mr. Sampanthan is whether he has realized self-governance and if yes, was it through the Political pathway, Administrative pathway or his own True experience as a citizen?

If it were Political – then Mr. Sampanthan has to keep asking for devolution – which would naturally develop sense of majority power within Hindus and Tamils, due to India & Tamil Nadu respectively. As per the political pathway, we have to ask as per our faith and it shall be given by the person we believe in. The people of Trincomalee have repeatedly confirmed that Mr. Sampanthan is such a leader to them. In terms of Administrative pathway, Mr. Sampanthan or any of his supporters are yet to confirm their ability to ‘show’ the other side in terms of Administrative proposals. At this stage they have to seek and fulfill their position as self-governing equal other side to the Government.

Beyond this – we are all citizens and to the extent we act within our Truth – we are self governing. In the case of Mr. Sampanthan  as a citizen – we have to accept any independent declaration by Mr. Sampanthan - that he realized self-governance as a citizen, in which case – he would be more valuable to Sri Lanka by being a citizens’ facility – as I am here in Australia. As a politician he has the right to expect a solution and if he knocks on those facilities -  the doors of opportunity would open. The last of these happens through Natural system of balance. Every believer in Mr. Sampanthan would naturally share in his sense of independence and hence Mr. Sampanthan becomes a facility/Governor.

The permanent  solution however would not come through the new Constitution. If it does exist – it would have already happened – and be the consolidated value of all those to whom Sri Lanka is home – whether they are currently alive or not and/or living in Sri Lanka or not. Truth consolidates naturally through the process of discovery during which we discard attachment to the physical and elevate our mind to lose consciousness of relativity and therefore judgments.

As per recent Asian Mirror  report ‘LTTE Leader Would Have Been Prime Minister By Now’:

‘State Minister of Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran said that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the slain leader of the LTTE, would have been Prime Minister or at least a member of the government if he was alive now.

Speaking at a meeting in Kilinochchi yesterday, she said Prabhakaran was an exemplary leader and such a leader cannot be found among world leaders now.’

Asian Mirror highlighted also the following in relation to this issue:

It should be recalled that the caste system plays a much bigger role in Tamil politics in both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, than in the Sinhalese community. Maheswaran herself is from Karainagar, where most people are fisher folk.

I identified with the above through my own experience as follows: ‘Yesterday, while arranging our shoes on the shoe-rack – I was about to use the ‘habit’ of placing my husband’s shoes topmost. Then I recalled a Sinhalese friend saying to me that someone known to her and of Karawa/Fisher caste placing  fish on top of the rice when food is served. Recalling that I placed my shoes on top of my husband’s so I would confirm to myself that I was not a minority member now that I am not doing paid work.  I showed it to my husband and he also smiled.’

To my mind, Mrs Vijayakala Maheswaran, is the parallel of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake – in that both came into prominence due to the murders of their husbands. Taken as an individual – Mrs. Vijayakala Maheswaran, would represent women of her age group living in their respective ‘home areas’. The culture of that area would be their natural base of thought processes, to mark rights and wrongs. Karainagar as it is known to me is well known for its business development. They are likely to prefer business before higher mind order and this is likely to be extended to politics. The LTTE leader was quite popular in that age group – and this can come out during unguarded moments.

The comments were made in Kilinochchi – the political capital of the LTTE. A place has its own powers and the deaths of those who died for their homeland would make them heroes in that land – especially if the official fighting forces acted in breach of the law which killed civilians. Every LTTE member who fought in defense of civilians becomes a hero in that natural environment. The law applicable to that area is not the written law but the unwritten law of the highest standards of the official army. Irrespective of whether the Government conducts an inquiry into this or not – the true ruling in that area would prevail as heritage influence. One who is unguarded in her/his expressions would bring out their True thoughts – as Mrs. Vijayakala Maheswaran also has done. In other words, the LTTE spirit lives on and has infiltrated the Government which is already infected by Karuna Amman’s true spirit as well as JVP spirit.

The deeper we go into an issue – close to  Root Truth, the more at peace we would be. At that level – there is no judgment but mere identity with the net value. As per my experience – Tamils as a Community are now even with Sinhalese as a Community. In a Unitary structure – we need Equal Opportunity laws to uphold this Truth. If this is not acceptable to the Government – then the provisions of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution which provides for some degree of autonomy to Tamils must be upheld by Tamil leaders – without fear or desire. Separation often helps us to see each other through independently produced outcomes. 

The option of Equal Opportunity Law, would help us travel together as one nation.  Under those circumstances Article 9 which provides for Buddhism to be foremost needs to be brought under Chapter III to be covered by Article 16 (1) – the same way other Customary Laws are upheld until majority practice the system of Democracy in everyday living. Such is the Affirmative Action needed during the transitional period. 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

30 December   2016

Transparency OR Accountability

As I edited a write up on Government’s  performance in 2016 and read the phrase ‘Transparency & Accountability’ the thought from my insight into Public Service said ‘the two are contradictory requirements’.   Under the vertical hierarchical system – we had Confidentiality as a key requirement of Good Governance. Then Accountability as a whole unit to the next higher level was required – so our performance could be ‘judged’ as per that report.  But where we are transparent – users of our services have to do up their own reports and hence Objectively measurable outcomes need to be produced in confirmation of Transparency.

When our son came from Melbourne to Sydney for Christmas holidays – one of his first tasks was to tidy up the kitchen bench-top. All three of our children do that and I like it. But the challenge happens when it came to where things are stored. My children do not know in detail where I keep what. They tend to go by their own memory of the past when they lived as part of this household and tidied up as part of their responsibility. This is coupled with their own expectations of how the home ought to ‘look’.  Our son for example said that the medication I took had been placed in the cupboard above the cooktop – whereas I have the new habit of keeping them on the bench top now that my memory is not very strong in such matters. When the outcome of my work is transparent – I tend to see and remember. My son put it away as per our old system but Accounted to me that it was up in the cupboard. If he had moved the medication to an open space equally visible as the bench top I had them on – he would not have needed to be Accountable. Since taking the medication is an important task in my daily routine these days, I am likely to bring them out to be transparent – after our son and his family go back to Melbourne. But right now, I make the special effort to remember to take my medication.

Thinking about this while reading the above mentioned report – I concluded that it was wrong of us to expect Accountability AND Transparency from the Government during a particular period. Under the old system of Governance, the right to rule was inherited by the Royal family. Under Democracy, the right to rule is by the Objectively measurable outcomes produced at a particular point in time, by the voters living in common at a defined place. That ‘common living’ is therefore the key to producing sustainable Government through a democratic process. The less Accountable we need to be within that space the more Transparent we need to  become to develop and maintain good governance. The more transparent we are at process level – as within one religion – the more harmonious we are as fellow travelers towards self-governance. The less transparent we are at process level – the greater the separation needed to produce our own outcomes in private.

With this in mind, together with the need I felt to respond to the Australian Government’s invitation to submit a policy paper towards guiding Australia’s International engagement,

I read the Colombo Telegraph article under the title ‘Article 16(1) – Repeal It Or Continue To Render Muslim Women & Girls As Unequal Citizens’.

Article 16 (1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution states :

16. (1) All existing written law and unwritten law shall be valid and operative notwithstanding any inconsistency with the preceding provisions of this Chapter.

Article 14 (1) ( e) within this chapter provides as follows:

Every citizen is entitled to the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice or teaching;

This is in essence the contradiction I see between Article 9 which upholds Buddhism as the foremost religion and other Equal Opportunity provisions in the Constitution, including the above stated Article 14 (1) (e ) and Article 10 of the same Chapter which provides as follows:

‘Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.’

The authors of the above article - Hyshyama Hamin and Hasanah Cegu Isadeen - state in this regard:

‘In light of the constitutional reforms process, the study also led to the inquiry about whether or not as a result of our religious affiliation and gender – we and our sisters in faith were equal before the law, as others. The answer, as we found out is a resounding ‘no’, and the reasons are many.

Not only are Sri Lankan Muslim women subject to personal laws that deny us equality in an integral aspect of our lives – marriage and family, but there are also no constitutional guarantees and safeguards of our fundamental rights of equality and non-discrimination in these very aspects’

A law – whether it is religious law and/or secular law – becomes a lie – when it is abused to manifest unjust outcomes. If for example, majority Muslim women in Sri Lanka, have accepted lesser status than their male counterparts within family and community and limited themselves to lower level thinking and ‘process’ work rather than reflecting ‘Royal Order of the mind’ – gender equality as per Democratic principles could be hijacked by a few educated women for selfish reasons based on intellectual advancement. Unless majority Muslim women  claim independently that they have suffered due to being allocated minority status within family and/or community – and present their case through the law-makers in their area – there is no political right to change the law – in this instance Article 16 (1) which overrides the principles of Equal Opportunity. Equal Opportunity is a combination of Equal status on the outside and Truth inside. Truth is a completed experience through which we identify with our own Divinity – our own personal god/conscience.

The parallel of Muslim Law for Tamils of Northern Sri Lanka is the law of Thesawalamai. In the Testamentary case before Courts in relation to our family – there are two important questions being raised:

(1)   Whether a daughter  is entitled to override the law of Thesawalamai according to which family Administration is the foremost responsibility of  sons.

(2)   Whether a daughter who has received dowry is entitled to any  share in the Commonwealth

As per the fundamentals of the Thesawalamai law the work of the women is of lower status than the work of the men. The woman’s work is more supportive and less visible. As per Hinduism – the balance is through the status of woman being described as Energy. Today for example, Ganesh, a Lankan Diaspora leader in Australia, forwarded reference to a Tamil presentation of the value of  the Vedic  plate in the Hindu temple altar – representing Energy which comes directly to the devotee. It represents the Hidden Power – the Root Cause.

Given that we are all Sovereign – if all of us identified with each other’s total power – our apparent status would be Equal. But where we are driven by the seen and the heard – a man earning money is attributed higher status than a woman who is largely a home-maker and earns no money. Thesawalamai balances this to confirm Equality of woman – by giving dowry to the daughter when she marries. This dowry is usually of higher value than equal share of the commonwealth. The residual after paying dowry is shared equally by sons and this is of lesser value and in some instances is of negative value due to borrowings by parents to have their daughters married.

It is to balance the apparent inequality that women are given higher share of the commonwealth – as dowry. If women seek Equal share in status – then they must take Equal responsibility for parental liabilities also. Then their surnames need to remain unchanged after marriage indicating the net worth of their common family status.

The Japanese Prime Minister visiting Pearl Harbor nor President Obama vising Hiroshima – said ‘sorry’. The cannot right the wrongs but could share in the pain of victims any time. What happened back then was due to the forces that prevailed at that time at those places. The unsettled rights and wrongs become assets and liabilities and when the two come together the total picture is invoked. That’s like the horoscope. One cannot change the horoscope but one can read the horoscopes and ensure that we do not produce another balance sheet that reflects loss of ownership and therefore the dissolution of the institution / nation itself.

Similarly – Muslim women’s status of yesterday cannot be disintegrated through current measures. Indeed if Muslim women developed higher minds by being the motivating forces of their men – then the internal binding strength of that community would be stronger than that of families where there is very little internal Energy due to both genders working and enjoying high status in society. In Royal families – the mind of the spouse with lesser apparent status would  be of high  order.

Muslim women wearing the purdah in public confirm the need for Article 16 (1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution. To the extent they are genuine, they would continue to ‘settle’ internally and help their men show only One outcome. Hence the need for Confidentiality followed by Accountability. 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

29 December   2016

Buddha also; not Buddha only or Buddha foremost

I got into an argument with a close family member and decided to take a walk along Coogee Beach. Param, my husband joined me. The disagreement was due to cultural differences – not unlike the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. The lowest common denominator is Subjectivity due to difference in orders of the mind. In this instance – age also was a factor. I believe that those within the same culture  would also have  different mind-orders and therefore come to different conclusions on a matter. In fact the same person could come to different conclusions on the same matter, at different times and/or at different places. Hence the saying that Change is the only Constant.

That which is right for Sri Lanka could be wrong for Australia and v.v. for the above reason. Where our ‘systems’ are different – our thinking order would be different. To the extent the outcomes are based on theoretical measures of rights and wrongs – there was would be ‘substance’ change due to time and place of manifestations. To the extent the outcomes are based on Truth experienced by us – that Truth would be the nuclear  force of the  manifestation.

The argument / discussion was about our home unit and my work in Sri Lanka and the funds needed for this work. Finally, unable to reach an amicable decision I asked the Home-Lord within me to guide me. Then I noted this young guy with some books approaching a senior lady. I sort of worked out that he was from Hare Krishna movement and that he was saying that the lady could make a donation if she took a book. The lady said ‘no’. Then the young guy came over to us. My husband with whom I had NOT shared my thoughts – said ‘no’. We already had the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Prabhupada, as the first gift from my father in law. But I wanted to donate because it was Christmas time – and the young ones were working to get some return. The one in front of us said he was from Orissa and that his friend was from Austria. I pointed to our home-unit within Coogee View block of units and said we were from there. The guy wanted to know whether we were from Fiji. I said ‘no we were of Sri Lankan origin’. After he departed – I said to my husband that I was reminded of a priest at the Martin Luther Kirche in Sydney where I went during lunch break when my complaint against the Police was being heard. That priest was the only one who asked me which part of Sydney I was from? To which I said I was from Coogee. The documentation before the Courts clearly stated that the Police listed me as Sri Lankan, despite my claim that I was legally Australian. The Judge did examine this but concluded that it did not amount to racial discrimination. That was the subjective judgment at that time at that place. Today, it is likely to be different here in Australia, using the same law and the facts. But to me that was some kind of Divine message. The matter after lunch was concluded with Magistrate Smith escalating the matter to trial level. The Australian Judiciary’s limits in Equal Opportunity values at that time were limited to that level of manifestation.

 The trial verdict effectively was that it was not Racial Discrimination. But now I realize that the real verdict came at the Kirche on Goulburn Street – that I was Australian and the Police listing me as Sri Lankan was as per the Constitution of the Police majority of whom were White Australians using hearsay value of  Equal Opportunity. I often recalled that experience at the Kirche and blessed that priest. The matter going to trial stage was the maximum I could achieve, given the players at that time. The place – Goulburn Street - common to the Courts and the Church – manifested its own Truth to enable escalation of the matter to trial stage – which was a first for my Human Rights complaints.

After recalling the above Kirche experience again in Coogee, I looked at the Bhagavad Gita book again. I felt it was somehow connected to Lord Krishna’s preaching / sharing with Prince Arjuna – right in the middle of the Battlefield. Prince Arjuna was advised by Lord Krishna to fight for Dharma/Rightousness – irrespective of the relationship with the one on the other side. In the case of Prince Arjuna – this included his own Granduncle  Bhishmar and his Guru Thronar. I opened the book at random and the messages were comforting and supportive. One said on page 300 - ‘One can avoid worshipping a respectable man or a demigod and may be called discourteous, but one cannot avoid serving the Supreme Lord without being thoroughly condemned. Every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus every living entity is intended to serve the Supreme Lord by his own Constitution. Failing to do this, he falls down.’

His own Constitution was the phrase that caught my attention. I thought about the Sri Lankan Constitution in the making and my own continuous contribution by objecting to Article 9 which provides for Buddhism to be the foremost religion and which is in conflict with others that provide for religious equality. My Constitution in Australia is that of a migrant. If I therefore failed to serve Australia through my own constitution as migrant – I would fall down. I served the Truth I knew by going to Courts and this resulted in lateral sharing to become global.

The next question is ‘What is my migrant Constitution?’ It is NOT the theory of Equal Opportunity as a senior migrant or native. It is how I experienced my work and its returns in Australia. It was my experience at the University of NSW that led to the matter being heard at  the Courts. The work I had done previously to establish Democratic Resource Management systems produced far less returns for me, relative to others recruited for similar purposes and relative to the contribution to Democratic systems by others who made up the University at that point in time. ‘The gap’  matured into  the ownership value that invokes Divine powers, because I included myself and did not separate in my mind. Once our contribution goes beyond maximum range of our position, it is of ownership value and spreads laterally to invoke other true powers.  To my mind they are sources of  manifestations that we commonly call miracles.

I then knew that I had to act as per my Truth rather than theory and dreams of majority – however well meant they may be. With Truth one needs to conclude and/or act immediately when the decision affects other participants. Truth always answers to the needs of all – even though most of us do not know it at that time. Theory could be used to plan but such planning needs to be based on Truth, to have the power to naturally consolidate and manifest common solutions. This Truth could be as per the experience of one or more and/or the collective investment made by all concerned through a particular theory/common law  – for which the contributors have not received benefits of money and/or status relative to others covered by the theory/law.

I got the direction I needed to settle the family-home issue as per my home-constitution. On that day (27 December 2016) I received also the email regarding the memorial of the Hon Thiyagarajah Maheswaran who was gunned down while praying within Sri Ponnambala Vaneswarar  temple, Colombo.  I did not know much about the Hon Maheswaran but I identified with the temple as a place of art and high level religious order. I had seen Mr. & Mrs. G.G.Ponnambalam praying at that temple. Somehow the core value in my mind’s eye – Common mind – included the contribution of  its founder – Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan who also contributed strongly to Independence in Governance. The Hon Thiyagarajah Maheswaran  could be identified with as an heir of  Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan due to the common fight for Independence. I associated the passing away of the Hon Maheswaran with that heritage. Hence receiving the above memorial email strengthened the feeling of need for a common value constitution for Sri Lanka.

When Dreams and expectations of one part of  Sri Lankan society are included in the Constitution – they automatically dilute the Commonness of the Constitution itself. Likewise in any institution, including family. Sri Lanka as a nation needs to have its own Experienced Truth as the root of its Constitution. Then Peace is supported by Absolute value realized by others at various places at various times. This includes Buddha also but not Buddha only or Buddha foremost. 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

22 December   2016

Common Citizen v Dual Citizen

[These are terrible times for ethnic and religious reconciliation. The Siva Senai was launched 09.10.2016 with TNA footprints. Its leader Maravanpulavu Sachithananthan is on the Federal Party Central Committee. His Co-Coordinator, Seeniththamby Yoheswaran, is a TNA parliamentarian. Siva Senai’s pogroms have focused on Muslims and Tamils too in Bombay.

According to Sachithananthan, the Siva Senai was started because Hindus here face problems from Sinhala-Buddhist colonisation, Muslims being funded by countries like Iran and Iraq, and Christians receiving Western missionaries’ support, while “Hindus alone have no support.” Sachithananthan seemed blind to the hundreds of Hindu temples coming up on encroached state and private lands using Diaspora money.] – Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole – in Colombo Telegraph article ‘Navalar Myths Aborting Reconciliation’

When someone criticizes me about my ‘looks’ – for example that I have put on weight - I dismiss them if they had not praised me when I was looking good/slim. I may or may not express it, depending on how open / transparent they are with me in issues that are important to me. But in my mind, they are placed as per their net  record. The actions and expressions of such folks are received as per my placement of them. This is needed for mental balance – especially as we grow older and have to live with the relatives in our mind. Where those relatives are strongly influenced by the ‘outside’ and we are open to their judgments – we bring the outside world into us including through them. When we let the outer world flow into us – we often lose connection with our inner Truth. Hence we would go up and down with others’ assessment of us. When such assessment is political – it would be one sided. This means the other side seeks to diminish our status to elevate themselves. Had they expressed positive comments when we did look good – then it is Administrative and we need to bring such observations into ourselves. Right to rule due to majority vote is based on this. With one individual – it is whether the person made positive assessments in the past is the criterion. This is Time based.  

When it comes to more than one – and a mix of those who knew us previously and others who did not – majority vote is the decision at primary level. It is like dividing the one person into two to calculate the net value from outsiders. When we measure that net value with our own assessment of ourselves – as per our work and sacrifices – exercise and food control in the case of physical looks – if the two are in agreement – we are relatives and if they are in disagreement we are foreigners to each other.

On that basis – Professor Hoole is taken as a foreigner to the looks of the Constitution of Sri Lanka which has  ‘Buddhism foremost’ included through Article 9. The above mentioned members of Siva Senai – are the real Political Opposition in Sri Lankan Parliament – in terms of Balancing Article 9. If we do not have the position to vote – we need to do more in action to maintain Democracy’s essential criterion of Equal footing at the beginning start. I am reminded of Indian Tamil Leader the Hon Kamraj whose experience as a child was shared with us. Young Kamraj whose family was poor especially after the death of his father – brought home the welfare ‘food’ from school and when his mother asked him why it was so little – he said that that was all he got – even though others got more. When asked why he did not complain to the teacher – he said he did and was told that the five fingers of the hand were not Equal!  They are not equal looking. But each one has a function and when each finger operates within its natural boundaries – they together support the Common Hand. In Democracy we make them look equal in our mind’s eye, by elevating the position of the lesser looking participant. Mr. Kamraj was a great Administrator due to his insight into the difficulties of those living in his home area. This helped him identify fully with Gandhi and in South Mr. Kamraj was known as Black Gandhi. He did not argue with his teacher that he was entitled to equal share. He adjusted. That sacrifice went towards his elevation as a greater Political Administrator.

Through personal experience - between Professor Hoole  and  Mr. Sachithananthan, the latter has shared positive assessment of my work with me whereas the former has never responded to any of my articles – not even to the ones regarding the Australian University system. To my mind that is also discrimination on the basis of who one seems to be of lesser status than others – even though one has shown deep insight based participation in a particular issue. One with insight would recognize the other. There is a famous quote from Ramayanam about the first meeting of Rama & Seetha: ‘ Annalum nokinaan Avalum nokinaal’ /  He looked and She also looked (i.e. Love at First Sight). When Senior Indian Politician Mr. Satyamurti met Mr. Kamraj – for the first time – the former said to the latter that it felt as if he had known the latter a long time. These are due to deeper Common values.

The personal experience that comes to mind happened in Colombo a few years back. I was going to Sabeenas our  Muslim tailors at Colombo 4, when someone said ‘Ms Gaja’. I turned around but could not recognize the guy in the tuk-tuk driver’s seat. The guy said words to the effect ‘I am Samad Ali’s brother; You were very good to me when I worked at New Olympia’. During that time I was about 7 months pregnant with  my second child and yet this guy recognized me – more than 30 years later, without even seeing my face! That is Divine experience and it came from a Muslim. Another similar experience happened at St. Anthony’s church in Kochchikadde – Colombo,  with a person with whom I worked at Prima Ceylon Ltd.  I believe that the current Coogee home-unit purchase happened also due to such connection with Prima Chairman who was present at the auction as owner.  All these confirmed my net positive value in those organizations – shared in common with those folks. I recognize also that the contribution I make to Governance through Democracy travels with me wherever I go and I am entitled to invoke its power. During times of real need – that Power invokes Itself to deliver as per God’s system.  

Professor Hoole reveals yet again his lack of insight into the Customs of Sri Lankans which included caste – including within the Sinhalese. In Northern Sri Lanka, it was part of Thesawalamai law at that time. Professor Hoole states:

[Religious reconciliation seems distant in Jaffna. The TNA’s Mavai Senathirajah hides behind “conservative Hindus,” telling southern officials that they do not want Christians holding high university office. Is he for or against minorities being put down?

Madam Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Office of National Unity and Reconciliation lists as Governor Mr. Nilakandan who told the Virakesari that the Jaffna VC has to be a Hindu.

What is Madam Chandrika’s position? Why and how is Nilakandan a Governor of ONUR? What is the TNA’s and Mr. R. Sampanthn’s position on TNA leaders supporting the oppression of caste and religious minorities? On Navalar as a national hero?]

ONUR – Office for National Unity & Reconciliation is made up of persons of high status. Those of us who have made genuine investments in National Unity & Reconciliation – not only between Sinhalese and Tamils but also between members of different castes and religions, would naturally empower such groups, to the extent either side does not block that connecting pathway. To the extent the position holders enjoy status and cash benefits – they convert their investments to benefits and hence there is less towards ‘ownership’ force that those of us who invest with ‘service’ attitude acquire.  Even when we study the subject matter at depth – we accumulate such powers. As a Christian, Professor Hoole is likely to have identified with that kind of power that Jesus Christ had. The depth of study is like Research in a University environment. Within the University system – one is rewarded with highest status – that Professor Hoole also carries.

Our deeper investments would remain to empower our heirs who believe in us. If we are genuine – we have the opportunity to  share our  investments – with those who identify with our work. They may not be the highest ranking officials – but the sharing would be close to Absolute value where both sides are genuine.

Whether it is the President of Sri Lanka or the Prime Minister or the Governors of ONUR – they are mere outer forms. If they are not empowered, they need Equal Opposition to give form to the stated Policy and hence the likes of Mr. Neelakandan – a strong practitioner of Hindu Temple culture and holder of high official positions within the Hindu Community in Sri Lanka. In addition, he is also a lawyer. When they operate within those boundaries, it would help prevent disintegration to their real positions in Unity & Reconciliation. In a country where there is a wide gap between theory of law and practice of order – it is more important that we have those who have maintained their good name and entitlement to high positions rather than ‘showing’ their real positions. One who cares would add her/his strength internally to support such maintenance. This is why they say in Tamil – Poruthaar Puvi Aalvaar / Those who forbear will rule the Earth. The Christian parallel that comes to mind is ‘Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth.’

We need the structures through which to invest. Personally to my mind, I would have been a good fit in that position – but no one with power asked me and even those without official position – for example Professor Hoole – did not suggest my name. The strength of my investment in this issue is not affected because I did not ask but rather have been doing the work – primarily in Vaddukoddai where folks continue to be highly conscious of caste and religion. But I have discovered that apart from some old ladies who habitually use caste – there is very little abuse of each other. It is however natural deterioration due to lack of an alternate system of teaching and learning.

This lesser use of caste based status does not mean that we have improved our social standards. Often the lower caste youth  with quicker access to modern facilities – than their parents had -  idle and act disrespectably towards older folks. Due to their own choice, many idle and damage the investments made by others in Common property. Whether it is caste, race or religion – where the discrimination is work related – it is socially healthy due to this learning hierarchy. Eliminating such relationships due to desire for quick changes weakens the natural social structure.

In Thunaivi, Vaddukoddai – I am known as the Kovil-Ammah / Temple madam.  I limit my ‘disciplinary’ actions and expressions to the current positions through the Temple system – which places the priest at the higher level than the cleaners – including cleaners from the higher caste who try to make out that they are of the same level as the priest. I observed that the tendency to takeover – exists also with lower caste to whom cleaning was also job-related. If not for my strict rules regarding their tasks within the temple – especially the altar – the cleaner would have held expectations of becoming priest and if he had majority support – he is likely to have rebelled. I observed the signs – of the cleaner washing the Deity a preliminary ritual of the Priest’s tasks. I made the ruling that he needed to limit his work to washing the temple floor.  The outer work of the priest can be easily copied. But the deeper belief through study and practice of Hindu philosophy cannot be easily brought into the ordinary person. That is like the Research work of an Academic. This is shown through high respectable status.

The parallel of the caste system prevails also in the Western University system – where Academics hold highest positions even though they are often lacking in experience of Managing  Democratic systems, but like Professor Hoole, they carry the American labels. A Pariah (Toilet Cleaner) who completes her/his job as per her/his position is equal to the Vice Chancellor / President of the University who has completed her/his job as per her/his position. If such a Pariah seeks to discuss her/his discovery about the University system – such Pariah has the right to be heard before any senior who is yet to complete her/his job as per the stated position requirements.

Professor Hoole states:

[Government policy on reconciliation is being obstructed by the UGC Chairman Mohan de Silva’s new communalist requirements to teach engineering. When I was rejected for the post of Senior Lecturer at the University of Jaffna, one of the reasons de Silva gave Madam Kumaratunga who kindly queried why, was my writings on Arumuga Navalar, “an iconic figure” to Hindus. Professor Carlo Fonseka swears to this in an amicus curiae brief. Refraining from critiques of popular figures is now a majoritarian requirement for university recruitment! It is sad that the UGC has become a tool in the hands of Jaffna’s Caste Establishment in putting down religious minorities and keeping us out of the university.

Does Madam Kumaratunga who stands for National Unity and Reconciliation, and Minister of Higher Education, Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, who stands for Good Governance, support these new UGC requirements to teach engineering?

As per my assessment – Professor Hoole suffers from the weakness that many leaders within the Diaspora do. To my mind, we are entitled to take credit from our highest held position in an institution, family, nation after lapse of time and/or distance. Professor Hoole who according to Wikipedia holds dual Sri Lankan and American citizenship does not hold the record of having achieved Vice-Chancellor/President position in an American University. Yet, on merit basis he did achieve a position within University Grants Commission, in 2003 – 4 years after returning to Sri Lanka. This was followed by winning on merit basis – the position of Vice Chancellor in 2006, but left Sri Lanka due to death threats from the LTTE.

In contrast Professor Hoole’s brother Dr. Rajan Hoole is reported to being  a senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna's Department of Mathematics and Statistics. As per published report – Dr. Rajan Hoole graduated through University of Ceylon, and in 1982  he capped it with a PhD from the University of Oxford. From 1988 he seems to have continued working with the University of Jaffna – including as a Human Rights Activist. Between two brothers of similar grooming – including religious grooming – one seems to have higher expectations than the other and on the basis of public records available – one would conclude that the American influence is part of the ‘expectations gap’.  

The example that comes to my mind to eliminate this ‘gap’ from our own mind to become Common citizen between America/Australia in my case and Sri Lanka,  is the Hindu example of Palani Murugan – Who renounced all parental wealth when His expectations as per His interpretation of the rules were not met. (Ref. Mango Legend). When coming to Australia, I needed to take rebirth and start from zero base. In the process my material wealth – money and status needed to be lost consciousness of. Murugan renounced. I had to lose consciousness of because I did not hold the parallel or lesser Australian qualifications. I needed to earn immediate money to take care of my young family. Hence I started from zero base but carried my true knowledge/wisdom from my training in Sri Lanka as a Chartered Accountant. This helped me rise quickly to higher positions but not the highest I did hold in Sri Lanka. I believe that due to this – I am good at General/Common Management. In fact our home-accounts are taken care of by my engineer husband. During Nallur Murugan festival in 1998, I renounced my Australian status and wealth-earning opportunities  - after hearing Ms Pauline Hanson asking us to go home and I decided to return to Sri Lanka. I believe I continued to have Divine Guidance during the process of restructure. I recalled the positive higher status in Sri Lanka – shown as Respect and internally merged the two systems to eventually become Common Citizen of Australia and Sri Lanka.

Using that as a measure – I find many members of the Diaspora ‘showing’ their ‘foreign’ status to be higher than Sri Lankan through the way they ‘spend’ money – the Diaspora Money that Professor Hoole refers to in terms of temple construction. It is quite common for Diaspora leaders to become leaders of the Community through temple Administrative positions and hence so long as they show such leadership as ‘Common Citizens’ or remain ‘facilities’ that Sri Lankan leaders could rely on – such constructions are healthy. Whether they are done on Hindu lands or non-Hindu lands – is the question to be asked. Land ownership documents are not yet regularized in war-torn areas. There is a Buddha statue in front of my land in Colombo 5 – which was encroached by a Buddhist. I continue to await the final verdict of the Judiciary in terms of any improvement to that property. In the meantime I pray to that Buddha every time I go there, to look after my property for me.  If Hindu lands are left unoccupied – they are likely to contribute to encroachment habit by the less orderly folks – including the Buddhist Government. I believe that our temple property in Thunaivi would have thus been taken-over by the Armed Forces who had a camp close by or by the local folks who have the natural encroaching habit.  Our family Hindu heritage was strong enough to call me back to confirm our claim.

The Sinhalese attitude could be interpreted through the following:

[The government is now engaged in preserving the `national heritage’ of Jaffna. The most important part of the National Heritage of Jaffna is its Buddhist civilization. This must be preserved first. Jaffna is Nagadipa. Therefore Jaffna must replace Nainativu in the list of ‘solosmastana’. Facilities must be provided for Buddhists to worship in Jaffna. Buddhists should have asked for this long ago. Jaffna must be given back its original name ‘Nagadipa’.] Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Buddhism in Ancient Jaffna’ by Kamalika Pieris.

As a native of Jaffna – I cannot relate to this. If the author is also a native of Jaffna – s/he has the right to make her/his claim based on belief – even if s/he were a minority of One – as Gandhi would have said. Truth is absolute and hence belief based expression is of the highest value. But to take status through such claim – the claimant has to first renounce any power as part of the  majority community which elects Government for the whole of Sri Lanka. Likewise, Hindus in Jaffna using Provincial Government status.  

The example of Professor Hoole failing in this regard is known through the following report by Wikipedia:

[During the 2011 local government elections in Sri Lanka Hoole documented and reported on violations of electoral law by the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a government backed paramilitary group led by government minister Douglas Devananda.  After Devananda complained to the police about the "defamatory article", Hoole gave a statement to the police on 2 August 2011. On 4 August 2011 the police summoned him to appear at Kayts magistrates court the following day, telling him that he may be remanded.  Hoole did not attend the magistrate but instead sent his lawyer N. Srikantha. The magistrate found Hoole to be in contempt for not attending in person and issued a warrant for his arrest if he did not attend the court on 15 August 2011. Fearing detention in Kayts, Hoole fled Sri Lanka for a second time.]

The Australian (NSW) Police also summoned Professor Rory Hume – then the Vice Chancellor of the University of NSW when I claimed that I had every right to assemble peacefully at the University of NSW and yet I was arrested as a criminal. Like Professor Hoole – American trained Professor Hume also sent his Barrister in addition to the University legal officer. But unlike in Sri Lanka – where the magistrate ruled that Professor Hoole was in contempt of Court, the Australian magistrate accepted the application by the Australian barrister to set aside the Police subpoena. That was abuse of legal process by the legal profession in a court where the barrister took-over the mind of the magistrate to compromise on the citizen’s right to Equal access to Due Process of Justice. Unlike Professor Hoole who ran away – I faced the punishment of going to prison and continue to honor my bail conditions to serve my punishment outside the prison after the preliminary period.  The punishment is not to step into the University of NSW.

Professor Hoole, in similar pattern to the above Buddhist author -  has published his conclusions sans intellectual backing:

[In 1969, when the Federal Party was elevating Navalar, Mr. Shanmugathasan (CP-Peking) orchestrated protests with the objection that Navalar was a caste revivalist. In 2011 when high caste Hindus took a statue into Karaiyar Valvettithurai, villagers came out and blocked entry.

The division is this: the high caste and those aspiring to high caste want Navalar elevated. The vast majority of Jaffna who are oppressed caste Hindus want nothing to do with him, calling him chaathi-veriyan or caste-crazed. The exaltation of Navalar is considered an intimidation of the oppressed castes.

Imagine the psychological and social impact on oppressed caste children to see a man who openly despised them being glorified in their schools!]

I grew up in Catholic environment in Jaffna. Hence I am not aware of majority of Jaffna being ‘oppressed caste Hindus’. One has only to go to Nallur to know that there is no caste based oppression amongst Hindus. Even I am not allowed into some areas reserved for priests and patrons. As for folks of Valvettithurai opposing Navalar in 1969 – they ended up producing the LTTE leadership – did they not? If the investment in self-governance made in Northern Sri Lanka – was by the group categorized as ‘ high-caste Hindus’ and they were rejected – then those rejecting are left with their own investment – which led to not only takeover through threat of armed force but also the leader himself converting to Christianity – the religion of majority Karaiyar. If Farming was considered to be a higher profession than fishing – then the hierarchy is as right as an Academic being considered to be of higher rank than an Administrator without academic status – UNTIL KNOWN OTHERWISE THROUGH MERIT. The gap increases when the Academic is American and the Administrator is Indian-looking Sri Lankan.

Whether it is caste, race, religion or position based – abuse is  abuse. The Common terminology is Subjective power. Subjective power is positive where there is enough common faith to make us insiders. Where there is insufficient common faith – and we continue to use the Subjective power – we become abusers – including within families – on gender and age bases.

 In a democracy all of us have the duty to start from zero advantage and our performance is required to be measured through independent outcomes and expressions where even one side does not know about the other through prior performance. If this does not happen – due to subjective power – we have the choice of adjusting and carrying on or leaving/separating. If we adjust without compromising – we have sacrificed and hence we accumulate ownership power – as we do when we ‘forgive’. If we compromise we lower our status and assimilate to eventually become dependents. 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

21 December   2016

Balance of Powers

Reading the News Report ‘SL probes man who tried to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi for ‘plot’ against Sirisena ‘by Deccan Chronicle, I was reminded of a parallel issue in  Northern Sri Lanka – in an area where there was very low order in relation to marriage laws. In that matter in which my advice was sought by a close relative of the victim – the man concerned was seeking to separate from his wife saying that an astrologer had predicted that if his sister in law got married – his wife would become a widow. About a week before his sister in law got married he accused his wife more strongly of loose conduct – and unable to bear it any more – the wife complained to her siblings who brought her to her parents’ place. During the inquiry by siblings the wife revealed that this guy had demonstrated desires towards his sister-in-law. They are now living separately and effectively his astrologer’s prediction became true. But the question is whether it was ‘Astrology’ or ‘Psychology’? To my mind, it was the latter in the case of marriage  by a man who wanted more excitement in life. The Astrologer might have read his weakness for desiring pleasures outside marriage – as President Clinton is known to have enjoyed – and express that as a prediction. The guy made it happen and is now suffering due to his own foolishness, dressed up as cleverness.

About the alleged threat to the Sri Lankan President, the above news report states:

‘Vijithamuni Rohana de Silva served two and a half years in prison for trying to murder the former Indian leader as he inspected a naval guard of honour in Colombo in 1987. He has since turned to astrology.

On Tuesday, Sri Lanka's Information and Parliamentary Affairs ministry secretary said police were investigating whether he was part of a plot to kill President Maithripala Sirisena.

Nimal Bopage said authorities could not ignore claims De Silva had posted on Facebook and other social media over the past five months, in what he called a sustained campaign.

"This man claims to be an astrologer and he is predicting that the president will be killed by January 26," Bopage said.’

Mr. Rohana de Silva was in the Naval Force at Karainagar in Northern Sri Lanka and the ‘Cause’ of elimination of the LTTE would have become his cause. It’s the parallel of ‘Independence Cause’ shown by the LTTE to the Tamil Community and the world. One of the Naval Officers stationed at Karainagar, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe was the immediate past Higher Commissioner to Australia. Part of Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe’s service was common to Mr. Rohana de Silva. The order in which promotions happen within Sri Lankan Navy is thus seen and the expectation is registered as per that ‘seen order’ which happens in a subjective system. Hence the Actions of Rohana De Silva would have been the actions of his seniors’ mind to which he gave form.  The parallel at family level is the expectation of the above mentioned guy desiring to keep his sister in law as a mistress, due to his self-promotion as head of family. This is a high risk in areas where there aren’t enough males to match marriageable females and majority  females in that area are not strong minded and independent. These are indirect social problems faced by Sri Lankan Tamils – especially from rural areas. Abuse of women by male seniors is likely to be stronger due to such factors – especially where women leaders are lower in numbers. Hence the higher risk of rape in such places where male fighters were quickly promoted to high ranks and are now outside the threat of corporal punishment that LTTE leadership was known for.

Given that the ordinary Sinhalese considers himself as the Sole Owner of Sri Lanka – Indian rulers would be seen as ‘threats’ by such persons. This permanent message would have been strengthened by the fact that the LTTE were funded and accommodated by Indians. Hence Mr. Rajiv Gandhi would have been seen as LTTE patron by this simple mind, sans the depth of Research or experience based knowledge. In addition,  the Indo-Sri Lanka pact of 1987 would have been evidence of betrayal of the armed forces expecting to ‘win’ – one to one against the LTTE. The attack on Mr. Rajiv Gandhi in 1987 was a shade of suicide bombing through which Mr. Gandhi was killed in Tamil Nadu – the place that the Tamil Tigers are most comfortable in, due to the patrons like Mr. MG Ramachandran to their ‘Cause’.

In both cases – my conclusion is -  Truth manifests Itself where both opposing sides are equally disorderly, provided that someone has placed higher order at that place – through sacrifice of earned benefits. When Professor Bruce Hall’s ‘Scientific Fraud’ matter surfaced at the University of NSW – my contribution to higher order in reporting which led to me being treated like a ‘Pariah’ was already in place at the University. It was as Independence Energy due to me resigning and not taking revenge. The Hindu example is Lord Muruga of Palani who renounced His parental wealth to establish His Global position. The two chancellors of my time – Sir Anthony Mason and Dr. John Yu – added their own status to uphold my credibility and my right to complain. The judgment came through Bruce Hall matter which was surfaced by migrant staff who were equally disorderly in Administration and hence went prematurely to the media. The problem resulted in the dismissal of the Vice Chancellor whose negligence of duties resulted in me going to prison for Peaceful Assembly. Truth never fails. To date no remorse has been demonstrated by the University Administration and hence the risk would be carried and would manifest Itself when the Balance of Opposite Powers become Equal.

The recent report about the action by the Sri Lankan President in relation to his communication to Mrs. Sashikala without an Administrative portfolio – would have been interpreted by the likes of Mr. Rohana de Silva as Mr. Sirisena joining the Enemy – the same way active members of the Tamil Diaspora teased me when I went for a conference at the University of Jaffna – stating that I went to have an audience with Mr. Rajapaksa. This was particularly so because of the fact that the conference was organized by Mr. Douglas Devananda who was the Tamil partner in the Rajapaksa government. At the 2010 conference I found fault with the organizers through Subject Matter – of Equal Opportunity for Women. As for Mr. Devananda, I took his consolidated value through my own experience during Tsunami reconstruction time – when I was facilitated to meet President Chandrika Kumaratunge, to obtain approval for the projects proposed by our group – connected to Kathirgamam. Independence is a natural part of me and hence will support me when I consciously need Its support or if I abandon the institution / place – It would manifest Itself through my heirs at that place. I have observed this with awe not only in Sri Lanka – but also here in Australia within family and social circles and most importantly in Public Administration as a facilitator.

One could say that Mr. Sirisena contributed to the ‘risk’ of internal attack – by abandoning his Administrative Order when writing to Mrs. Sashikala – and this has been picked up by Mr. Rohana de Silva who was officially punished for doing what many of his counterparts did during war – when they were ‘free’ without Administrative supervision – as Professor Bruce Hall was in relation to his research at Liverpool Clinical School – far away from the base – as Karainagar Naval Base was from Colombo.

As I said recently to a Vaddukoddai migrant – when Vaddukoddai order is applied in Australia – the opportunity to become Australian is weakened. There are others who are seeking to merge the two systems – for example – the Hon Selvam Adaikalanathan – Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, meeting with the Hon James Berry – Member of British Parliament and  Chairman of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils. Such is confirmation of Administrative structure – that regulates our globalization. Where we contribute to disorder – we need to dig deep to find the Truth to know why something happened. My advice to the Sri Lankan President is to take the publication by Mr. Rohana de Silva as a serious warning from within and protect himself by positioning himself through the order of his position – so all of us can contribute to the protecting force or limit himself to his Truly earned position with the People of Sri Lanka. This would be the net value of his contribution over his lifetime as a citizen as well as in government. Under this method – it is between us as individuals and the Land.  The Land with Common Power will do the rest. 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

20 December   2016

Hindu Heart and Buddhist Lips ?

‘Imagine our Malcolm Turnbull tying charms on his person!’ – Colombo Telegraph article ‘Over To God Tirupati.

Mr. Turnbull is reported to be a Catholic. But to date I do not know of Mr. Turnbull upholding Truth above Policy (as Jesus did) that would go towards him keeping his job. The author of the above article is obviously a non-Hindu who has, as per my assessment,  assimilated with Australians to whom going to Church is less important than going to work. If Mr. Turnbull did wear charms on his person – he would be confirming Aboriginal share in his position of Prime Minister. The author Mr. Shyamon Jayasinghe is obviously a contributor to ‘White Australia Policy’. He may look ‘Indian’ but his mind says to him -  he is ‘English’. We call them ‘Peethal Paranghi’s’ (Broken English).

The disrespect for Thirupathi is demonstrated as follows:

‘Even a sensible, balanced and informed personage like our Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has fallen into what I call the ‘Tirupati Mental Trap.’ We used to observe how, time and again, former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa rushed to the Tirupati Deyyo in South India-causing a measurable consternation among the Sinhala nationalists who formed the core of his political support. After all, Mahinda was not as strong as good old Tirupati. However, I had all along borne the opinion that Ranil was more strong-minded than even Tiru.’

Tamil Nadu Political leader Mr. Karunanithi is reported to have said to Actor Mr. M.G.Ramachandran that the holy ash that the latter was wearing on his forehead was cow dung. MGR himself might have worn it out of cultural habit. But  majority People to whom MGR was hero it was Holy Ash – again due to culture and the form given by Hindu leaders. The meaning to my mind is that waste and food are fundamentally ‘ash’ – if we burn the outer frills.  Likewise charms. During my last stay in Thunaivi, Vaddukoddai – the local priest gave me a short lesson on Faith Healing of those who seemed to be mentally ill. The locals do not call it mental illness. They say the names of different spirits. The healers like our priest used to be – have the positive spirit. Our priest said that if the healer did not have strong resistance the healer would get infected. The visible signs in the healer is often limited to physical disorders – including temporary incontinence. To me, they are mental  disorders that infect those who are ‘free’ in a particular environment.

Let’s take for example the following declaration by Mr. Jayasinghe:

[Just look at the state of our country: We used to have a decent and civilised constitution before the watershed year of 1971. The evil British Empire was really responsible for that constitution although Kalu Suddas (Black-Whites) passed it in the new independent Parliament. The Constitution we had over those brief years was inspired by Lord Soulbury.]

Here in Australia – Mr. Jayasinghe is a Kalu Suddha. Hence he is able to accept more comfortably the Constitution by Lord Soulbury which order is more easy for him to follow than the Sinhala Nationalistic Constitution. The Truth within us completes the picture. We often do not go within,  to know why we did something. If the outcome is pleasant and attractive we take credit for it and if it is unpleasant and burdensome – we either blame someone else or stay away from the scene – i.e. we run away from the problem.

When Buddhist leaders worship at Hindu Shrines – they are running away from those who use Buddhism selfishly – i.e. – those who ‘show’ more Buddhism than they believe in. Most Sinhalese tuk-tuk  drivers carry pictures of Hindu deities in addition to Buddhist representations. Hence the ordinary Sinhalese would accept their Political leaders going to Hindu temples also. Christians do not usually carry any other religious form. Likewise those who Converted to the Secular system. Hindus carry Christian representation but rarely Buddhist form. Buddhist form is the main part of Sinhalese expression of belief but not the whole.  

To the extent Mr. Rajapaksa waged war against the LTTE he was not a Buddhist. To be Secular – he would have had to use his investment in the Secular system. Where this was not sufficient – and he was driven by his own intuition – that fits Hinduism – especially Murugan whose Power/Shakthi/Energy  eliminated Soorapadman – the demon. Mr. Rajapaksa’s thanksgiving happened at Nallur Murugan Temple in Northern Sri Lanka and as a believer in Nallur Murugan, my reasoning for this was through the Hindu pathway from which LTTE leader had already deviated by becoming Christian. There was no pathway in Christianity either – for war against the LTTE – an armed group.

The deeper our Belief – the less the outer form needed to ‘show’. It is healthy to ‘show’ how we arrived at that destination of deep belief. Any more would weaken the belief itself and therefore there would not be enough to share with those who look up to us. The Root-Cause in Management is the Truth that the Belief leads to. Those who are culturally driven invest in belief is regular dosage. If weapons based skills formed  the pathway of certain groups and they did not submit their wins to a group of higher minds – that group would be Administered by weapons. Likewise, money driven minds. If economy is a problem for Sri Lankan Government – Thirupathi where philanthropists submit themselves is the right place.

When we live in our Belief – it becomes the  Truth which is a permanent resident within us. This Truth invokes Itself whenever we have a genuine need and/or to oppose those who show more than their belief  to justify disorderly actions. In rural areas – folks are driven by this inner Belief through cultural practices. When they are elected to Parliament where intellectual order is low  – they start using the outer form of their new position and hence show wins to impress their admirers. Both LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government did that.

Lord Thirupathi, like Nallur Murugan is the Lord of material prosperity. Indian Cinema  stars and Business persons are known to bring their wealth to Thirupathi. Those are acts of  surrender to the Lord and those who are sincere – would know the relief in their hearts. One with real economic need will connect to that philanthropic power and would become the medium through whom the power manifests Itself.

Recently a relative said to me in relation to gay-marriage within that part of the family – that this was no big deal these days. Our relative said also that gay relationships had always prevailed in our society but were not officially recognized. Likewise, armed actions against those who opposed us is part of our permanent culture – including corporal punishment within family and in school. Like in Divorce, a person who was isolated due to being gay – would tend to resent another person being accepted even though s/he is gay – unless the former accepted the isolation as ‘privacy’ needed by a different family order. Majority do not want to lose their apparent high status by following the norms through which they earned that status. It is difficult for us to keep changing the order of thought. Hence there is natural   resistance to different orders.

A valued intellectual in India asked me ‘Can we really convert to another caste by conduct, given the current day prejudices?’

My response was:

‘Not only Caste – but even in religion, we may be naturally converting to another religion without being aware of it. If it were positive – you would not need to give it another name. If negative – you would give it a new name – largely to elevate your own status.’

Buddhism in Sri Lanka has been used towards such negative conversions. Like Aborigines in Australia, there were Nature worshippers in Sri Lanka before the arrival of Indians – be they Hindus or Buddhists. Many Hindu rituals merged with such Nature worship and hence the higher mind order included these folks. Given that there is no such Buddhist coverage – these practices like gay marriages are not given official order. But the belief is carried to show respect.

As per latest news:

‘Sri Lanka's former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has warned the government against antagonising the Sinhala majority by "appeasing" the country's Tamil community by mulling to grant more powers to provincial chief ministers in the proposed constitutional reform process.’ - Rajapaksa opposes govt's plan to empower chief ministers– by Business Standard.

As a fighting Sri Lankan leader, Mr. Rajapaksa would oppose provincial empowerment which would dilute the ‘victory’ he had through arms. He has been showing more  King Dutugamunu genes and less Buddha genes. Mr. Jayasinghe describes this as follows:

[ Under Mahinda, we even had a guy whose occupation was to snatch gold from the necks of passing-by girls and women. To add insult to injury this rascal became a Minister. The better folk avoided Parliament like the plague]

Without attributing any rights or wrongs as per outcomes – one could trace the cause to:

1.      Root – the Truth in us as per our Experiences

2.      External – the influence of outer world

3.      Pathway – our investment in Policy which becomes part of our Truth when we invest in that pathway beyond our duty.

When we are free – our contributions  are through 1 & 2 above. When 1 is stronger than 2 – we tend towards One Mindedness. When it is the other way around – we tend towards becoming frivolous. One of the latter group would tend to describe one in the former group as being frivolous – as I was by Australian Judiciary with little investment in Equal Opportunity Laws.

If there was devolution without Tamils investing more deeply in self-governance – Lankan politicians in Colombo would lose control of Tamils and possibly Muslims also. This is likely to lead to takeovers of minds – by Tamil Nadu and the Middle East Muslims looking to expand their cultural and religious territories for business purposes. Belief spreads itself naturally. To continue with Unitary State structure – affirmative action is needed to support minorities of all forms. 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

19 December   2016

Restoring the National Heritage

Much value is rendered to Heritage preservation including here in Australia. As per my understanding, Heritage is a place where the heirs of a developer would connect to the mind of the developer well beyond the body of the developer passes away. I therefore have strong feelings in places where I have invested in Common and/or in issues that are given shape to  with others, to form Common values. We share heritages with our heirs and we ourselves become our heirs when we take consolidated values beyond time and place borders. Thus, today I become such an heir of the heritage I developed yesterday. In terms of work values at Senior  Management level, Air Lanka (Sri Lankan Airlines) of such heritage value to me. The status I enjoyed there and the valuation that I registered from my seniors right up to the top level – sustained me when my qualifications were not recognized in Australia. I brought those minds with me beyond Sri Lanka’s borders.

I feel happy to note the following report by Ceylon Today under the heading ‘Peace Air in US$ 5.5 B bid for SriLankan, Mihin’ in relation to the restructure of the National Carrier:

[The highlight of the acquisition is that the SriLankan brand name and the livery will remain and there will be no retrenchment of staff, but it will be expanded.
Under the proposed route expansion programme, there will be five destinations each in Africa, China, Europe and Australia, ten in India and 6 in East Asia, they said, adding that all the destinations which were cancelled earlier, such as Rome, Zurich and Frankfurt, would be reinstated.]

I felt that my prayers were being answered. In any case knowing that there is such a commitment, confirms that there are  other heirs of  Air Lanka/Sri Lankan Airlines who would add strength to our heritage from Singapore International Airlines – our Aviation Gurus. Those of us who genuinely respect them are the heirs of Singapore values merged with Sri Lankan values. When invoked – it is healthy for the Nation and the relationship with Singapore with strong commitment to work-order.

I now appreciate that by taking my allocated lower place in Australian institutions but working at the professional standards I was used to, I became an ‘internal’ at that level. Hence I was able to work the system more effectively than those in higher positions who did not have the benefit of being free at the lower level. Democracy by majority rule in a way is based on this internal sharing with majority in an institution/nation. Where it is belief based – it would lead to strong sense of independence and self-governance. When it is popularity based – it would lead to separations.

By accepting my position, without compromising on my work standards – I accumulated strong ‘internal value’ which helped me become independent of my seniors without damaging their own status. The risk factor is that the mind of the weak could be ‘taken-over’ and used by the stronger players at the lower level who could be looking for ‘revenge’ against management/seniors in a system. Sacrifice of ‘status earned through cleverness’ naturally generates the Common structure and this is shared through political system.

Let’s take the example of the Sri Lankan President writing to Ms Sasikala who carries negative heritage in terms of Administration. It was recently reported through article ‘Sasikalaa makes political mark, Lankan president heeds her plea on Katchatheevu church festival’ published by Times of India that :

[The Sri Lankan President conceding to a request from "Mrs Sasikala" to permit 100 Tamil Nadu fishermen to attend the Katchatheevu church festival could be her first political "achievement".]

Mrs. Sasikala may have corporate wisdom in managing the position of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu – through her service to Madam Jayalalitha. But there is no apparent heritage value of having lived in that position structured through external interactions also. The corporate wisdom without the position form – is of spiritual value. This is recognized as ‘facility’ in Public Management system.

The alternate example that comes to mind is that of Range and Domain in Maths about which my husband was recently questioning our granddaughter. The student repeated the definition. As is my way – I blurted out – that range was the general area – for example from Coogee to Dulwich Hill where her Aunty Uma lived – and the Domain was the pathway through which we could get there. I knew it was not accurate but combined with her memorized definition – my lay understanding would help her connect to the mind-structure needed for the lesson more effectively – especially because my bonding is belief based and  my husband’s in that role is merit based. Like the Voter with the Politician, the student did not need to prove herself to me yet – had the motivating Energy from me – that I am interested and hence participated.  Our granddaughter being an outstanding example of earning goodwill seemed to accept my explanation especially after my husband repeated the essence of it. Later when I checked the definition through Google it went as follows:

[The domain of a function is the complete set of possible values of the independent variable. In plain English, this definition means: The domain is the set of all possible x-values which will make the function "work", and will output real y-values.]

In terms of the above Political picture, to my mind, all of us who qualify as citizens in an Administrative relationship carry the  ‘y value’ genes. In the issue of ownership of Katchatheevu, that range would cover all those who satisfy the Administrative requirements and/or have already accumulated such wisdom by living in those positions.

The President’s  approval of Mrs. Sasikala’s request,  is in breach of the domain/limitations of Administrative Authority – given that Mrs. Sasikala does not hold the appropriate position of Authority in Tamil Nadu Government. That is lowering of Administrative standards and would weaken the Administrative heritage that is available to the Sri Lankan Government – through Tamil Administrative leaders in both Nations. Tamil Nadu politics is strongly influenced by Tamil Cinema which has strong reputation of ‘Black Money’ which infected the LTTE also. Madam Jayalalitha brought her Cinema Association with former Chief Minister Mr. M.G. Ramachandran into her official position. To the extent Tamil Nadu masses rely heavily on cinema – they would tend to express themselves through cinema heroes. Fooling them amounts to brainwashing which led to violence in Northern Sri Lanka.

True struggle for Independence is fought on the basis of our sacrifices of earned benefits. I developed and share such heritage with fellow Australians. The welfare funding from the Mr. M.G. Ramachandran was inherited by his Cinema heir – Ms Jayalalitha. Now personal aide inherits that status – which would reduce the dignity of the Administrative structure of  the State of Tamil Nadu.

If the above report is genuine, the Sri Lankan President, by ignoring the Administrative borders is confirming that he is risking another ethnic war in Sri Lanka. Administrative requirements need to be followed before one is entitled to the freedom of Diplomacy. Katchatheevu Issue is yet to reach that stage of ‘wisdom sharing’ – unless Mr. Sirisena is confirming to be the parallel of Mrs. Sashikala. Return karma for leaving the Rajapaksa regime?