Wednesday 1 March 2017


Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
01 March 2017


LTTE – Relatives or Outsiders?

When two groups are not bound by Common belief – they are naturally independent of each other. One does not have the authority to punish or reward the other without express agreement between the Natural leaders of the two groups. To my mind, the principles of Equal Opportunity are based on this basic human value.

The Sri Lankan war happened due to lack of respect for this basic principle of Sovereignty. Travelling to and from Jaffna and Vavuniya in Northern Province, to Colombo in Western Province I was part of the experience of Tamils and Sinhalese civilians being more and more natural with each other and Tamils having the confidence to speak the language freely while traveling by train, than they did before the war. Just this morning, Jeevan of Thunaivi village who undertook some work for us in Colombo said that he was much more comfortable to travel by public transport in Colombo than before. I asked him as to whether he experienced language difficulty and he said that he was able to manage with a mix of Tamil and Sinhalese – which he learnt as an adult in Vaddukkoddai. I felt happier when Jeevan said he was planning on bringing his family over to visit Colombo which is also home to me and appreciate its multicultural values. To me that was confirmation of my efforts being rewarded through the system of Natural Justice.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, the Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, MP stated on behalf of Sri Lanka, during his recent contribution to Global Governance, through UN Human Rights Council:

 [Mr. President,
This Council is familiar with Sri Lanka’s story. After years of denial, disengagement, and self-isolation, the National Unity Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, proceeded to set our country on a transformative trajectory in terms of human rights, good governance, rule of law, justice, reconciliation and economic development.

The people of our country voted in large numbers granting a resounding victory to President Sirisena at the election in January 2015. The voter turnout was the highest recorded for any Presidential candidate, and in the North and the East, President Sirisena’s share of the vote was also the highest ever as people placed their trust in President Sirisena who they believe will not short change them as in the past. Therefore, we not only owe the people who voted for us 2 years ago, but also to history to uphold that trust, and we are committed to do so.]

When we vote, we work through the structured system of Democracy as it operates in that place at that time. Where this system is reliable – it manifests outcomes that would confirm the strong influence of the system of Nature / Truth. We ultimately get returns as per our own contribution to that system. The deeper our connection to Common purposes the more satisfying the returns would be to one who operates close to the Soul.

Recently, during a meeting of Hindu leaders in the ancient Hindu city of Thiruketheeswaram, in Mannar District of Northern Province,  the main participant Mr. Nadesan, confirmed that he was driven by ‘Aanmeeham’ / the system of the Soul.  I fully endorsed this. There were other young ones who were sharing their disappointment with the official system to deliver as per their contribution to the official system. I said to them that when I sued the then  Prime Minister of Australia the Hon John Howard – I did not have any expectations of winning in Court. But when Truth ultimately delivered, I identified with my contribution   as per my Truth expressed in the language of the Courts. I knew that my contribution was valuable to the Common Australian when my book ‘Naan Australian’ reached the National Library of Australia – without any particular effort on my part to take it there. Every person who contributed to that passage is a manager of the system of Natural Justice. A nation relying strongly in the religious pathway to maintain harmony – needs to focus more on this ultimate delivery and less on interim outcomes which may be frivolous and vexations in the Court of Truth and the system of the Soul with our Conscience as our witness and our judge. Each person who is able to share her/his Truth of her / his own free will, with her/his higher self and/or another,  is pardoned and continues her/his journey as a transformed person. Any punishment  beyond this is merely to confirm the authority of the punisher over the punished and is needed for structural purposes.

One therefore needs to ask the question as to whether those to whom LTTE were/are  Terrorists are foreigners or relatives of the group that the LTTE is natural part of. Common faith plus physical closeness (biological and/or cultural) makes us relatives. With that Common faith – we are outsiders to each other.

Reporter Shivanthi Ranasinghe  states in her Ceylon Today article ‘Abandoned soldiers of a forgotten war!’ :

[Though the aforementioned bombings all took place in 2008, the railway authorities have been living with the very possible bomb threats for much longer. The Dehiwela train bombing on 24th July 1996 is a case in point. It is one of the worst railway disasters we suffered. The LTTE stuffed four suitcases with explosives and left it in four separate compartments on the same train. They then blasted all four simultaneously during rush hour, killing 64 and injuring 400 civilians.
For a very long time, we lived in fear of crowded places, suspicious of strangers, especially if they bore unusual scars and panicked at the sight of unattended parcels/luggage.

Families refused to travel together. Mothers would wait by the school gates to escort the child back home. Arriving home after a day's work was not a guarantee. Rigorous security measures were forced to be adapted that inconvenienced the commuters greatly. However, all bore it with great fortitude. The railway authorities were really living a terrible nightmare. The popular adage then was, we have to be lucky a million times, terrorists only once.
Today, we have none of those concerns. Obviously, our safety is guaranteed to such an extent that we have taken it for granted.
So much so, that we have forgotten the hard battles we had to fight or the sacrifices that were made. It is these sacrifices that are now translated into disabled men.
They were once 'whole' men.]

The above writer obviously makes no connection between the LTTE and the Tamil community in Colombo who had to fear not only the Sinhalese thugs but more importantly the Government which failed to facilitate the feeling of safety for Tamils after repeated attacks by Sinhalese on unarmed Tamils. To the extent those thugs were labeled as thugs and not as Terrorists – the LTTE and the Community they belong/ed to, are outsiders to that writer and others like her who call the LTTE ‘terrorists’. If the actions of the LTTE are classified as rebellion – that community is independent of the group that refers to them as Terrorists.

This is an active issue within the Tamil Diaspora also. TELO (Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization) has been actively drawing our attention to the plight of the fighters who have been grouped as ‘former’ fighters. It has been highlighted that they are insiders and not outsiders. To the extent one believed that s/he was fighting / working on the basis of common purpose – one is an ‘insider’ – whatever that common purpose may be. It is the commonness in our belief that renders the authority of relativity through which we reward and / or punish. One who has the position but without the support of common belief is an abuser of power even when s/he is idle occupier of that relative position. Hence one could be idle and become guilty of war crimes / terrorism as the case may be.

A member of the Sri Lankan armed forces who related to LTTE as per the official label given by the Sri Lankan Government is limited to the return that the government has the authority to return. If the label was way above that authority as per the Truth – whether known or otherwise by such Government – then such member shares in the karma of excess punishment which becomes a negative force of relativity which disturbs the thought order of the punisher who actively uses the official order to her/his gain. Common Law when practiced renders common order of thought. Hence customs that are commonly practiced become Common Law for that group.

Majority Tamils, however critical of the LTTE some of them may be – do not label the LTTE as Terrorists. Hence when it comes to war related discussions – Tamils and Sinhalese are taken as Communities  that are independent of each other. Within each Community  – to the extent an action is on the basis of  common belief – each member of the group is entitled to a share in the rewards and punishments that the whole groups has earned. It is this common belief that renders ‘Freedom’ to enjoy within the limits of that Commonness. One who did not contribute to that Commonness is an outsider and needs to keep her/his distance to prevent interference.

An official  soldier who accepted the victory celebrations of the then Government -  within that ‘freedom’ of a government empowered  by arms - therefore has no authority to use the compensations and resources that have been flowing through to Sri Lanka towards the victims’ group and towards Commonness as Sri Lankans. The current Government came to power by promising to uphold basic human rights and commitment to practice  Good Governance. Those who celebrated Clever Governance when a part of their Nation was grieving – lose their authority to claim Good Governance credits. The more common we are the greater our credibility to make such a claim. A Good Government will have a big heart to listen and include without judging, affected parts of a nation as if the Government has been affected. A clever government on the other hand would make use of low level ‘wins’ to demote the  side that it feels threatened by. It’s worse when that other group is a minority group. The more one is driven by shown outcomes – the less one’s contribution to inner commonness. As per Hindu Epic Ramayanam – Lankan king Ravana was clever but Indian prince Rama was clever and good.

This goodness is identified with – when each soldier / combatant – who fought on the basis of belief is able to identify with  as her/his also - the outcomes Common to the whole – including Tamils in this instance. Otherwise the soldier / combatant is limited to the benefits that the institution legitimately owns and no more.

Natural Justice delivers ultimately to whoever systematically promotes a problem or an opportunity through the official system available to the person/group – beyond the earned limits (not the stated limits) of the management of that  system into the area of Truth. I did just that in Australia and enjoy Australia as a true Australian.


All of us have access to this system so long as we act within the boundaries of our own Truth/Conscience at all times or remedy our deviations before proceeding to the next stage. If the victory against the LTTE was based on belief rather than the authority of the law and its relativity – then neither side fighter is entitled to express expectations of compensation beyond the level of the normal soldier / worker / activist. Those who claim more – confirm that they were driven by benefits – expected and/or promised. They have to first de-crown themselves from the position of war-heroes to be entitled to such ordinary civil benefits and that too needs to be as per the laws common to their institution. Many Tamil combatants now live within their demoted positions at the same time the official forces are using their voting power to claim compensation beyond the normal limits of their institution. This promotes two nations within Sri Lanka. It’s up to social and family groups of each side – to compensate such soldiers – for their share of rewarding cleverness above goodness. 

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