Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

18 June 2017                   

                       

The Healthy Change in Northern Sri Lanka

[ The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) led by veteran R. Sampanthan, the largest of the parties in the TNA, will go it alone, and is, in fact, determined to do so. The others in the TNA – such as the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) led by Suresh Premachandran, the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) led by D. Siddharthan, and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) led by Selvam Adaikalanathan – may form an alliance. Fringe parties like the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam are likely to join the anti-ITAK front.] - Political crisis in Northern Province will lead to realignment of Tamil parties by P.K.Balachandran

This was expected for sometime now.  The common opposition is in the genes of ITAK as well as TNPF which has been adopted by the majority race – through their current Common Governance formation to oust the previous regime.   But the one party system is unhealthy for Political Democracy. Unless in Northern Province naturally respect higher order of thought – through intellectual discrimination – we need strong opposition – to ‘see’ the effects of our actions.  The problems of excessive power in Parliament was demonstrated in 1977 when the then UNP leader took over power and brought about a Presidential structure through the 1978 Constitution. TNA has become remote to Northern voters after the 2015 Parliamentary elections through which TNA became leader of Tamils at National level. This structure is naturally different to the one the Jaffna man would have expected especially after his support for militants. Our expectations would tend to be as per the pathway through which we contributed.  But now that Jaffna is becoming more and more ‘normal’, and less distracted by physical separation, it is understandable that we would start connecting to our inheritance in Public Administration. The base for this is 50:50 – the Mantra that Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam’s  grandfather preached to the National Political Leaders on the Ides of March in 1939.       As per the science of Administration – at the base level of manifestation one needs Equal sight from the two sides to form the whole picture.

Most of us tend to ‘forget’ that the nation has powers accumulated over time. Others of our generation / times may reject deeper contributions but those Consolidated powers known as Heritage – receive us for better of for worse –when we give up or surrender to Nature. This often happens when we become complacent in the new environment – as TNA seems to have once they became Leading Opposition in National Parliament.

Recently when our son tried to direct me in relation to our present to his daughter – I said that he was trying to ‘control’ instead of ‘facilitating’. I gave the example that when my elder sister said that we would all pool funds for our mother’s travel from Canada – I declined – stating if she wanted to she could get her mother down. I needed to be included in the ‘idea’ / ‘mission’ stage and not at the budget stage – as if I was only cash contributor. By this time I had contributed strongly to my parents’ leadership structure and hence could not accept being ‘told’. Likewise here in Australia – about my ‘position’.

Mr. Wigneswaran whose carries his former position as Justice – would likewise not be ‘told’ by senior politicians. Hence this new formation was expected. Without this – there was virtually no Public Administration happening at Provincial level. The Northern Provincial Government needs to be strong in Administration for Tamils to maintain their independent position at National level politics. Hence the 50:50 picture is healthy for us.

Like the moon, the politician’s mind would wax and wane. The Administrator’s mind needs to be independent like the Sun. This is the Lesson we have learnt from the majority race driven by Politics. Under the British we needed strong intellectual skills to survive. Once we are in power through majority vote – we tend to invest less and less in higher common pathway which requires intellectual discrimination using Common Measure. The orders of thought are different. When the autocrat dies the moon has no light. It’s then time for the birth of a new system. Why worry when we believe in our ancestors?