Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

04 October  2017

Mentally Ill Refugees & Armed Officers

[A Sri Lankan refugee who died on Manus Island on Monday was due to face court on sexual assault charge the day his body was found.

The 32-year-old man was charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel in Lorengau, the town on Manus Island, in January.

He denied the charge, saying the pair were in a relationship and had consensual sex.

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Fellow Tamil refugee Shamindan Kanapadhi said his friend had asked for help but had not received treatment for mental illness.] ABC News

The feedback I received yesterday, to my article on this subject matter, included empathy for the state of mind of the young Sri Lankan Tamil who died while effectively in custody. The question is whether we as a community contributed to this mental illness by rewarding & compensating where discipline was required? How many Diaspora leaders identify with the problem of victims as if they were the victims? As members of one community, we have the power to heal each other confidentially. Essential towards this is One structure in which the healer is Senior and the one being healed is Junior. That is when we confidentially heal even when we do not know each other. That is the core value of being part of a group. If there are members in the group who carry negative values in terms of the core purpose of that group, the ‘free’ mind gets infected by the negatives unless the Truth is already in place to reject such negatives. Leaders without such protection, would themselves become victims due to the passage between minds being unregulated by Truth or Common Law.  

The timing of the above rape happening at the same time a Sri Lankan Police Officer faces charges of alleged rape of a Rohingya Refugee in Sri Lanka, confirms to a true seeker the consequences of  impunity. Tamils whose minds were more on the side of the militants than on the side of the Government had/have  the duty to continue with the militants’ rules and discipline young ones who deviated from the regulated pathway their leaders demonstrated. Taking benefit without having worked for it or without sacrificing another benefit – leads to unsteadiness of the mind. Work and sacrifice ground us and hence our enjoyment is regulated. If militants’ rules included abstinence from sexual enjoyment outside the prescribed limits and those who claim to be victims of the Sri Lankan Army which  stands accused of such enjoyment then all those who accuse the Sri Lankan Army have to be clean of such accusations themselves. That is the law of Nature/Karma. One of the measures used by Tamils, to accuse Sri Lankan soldiers, is rape. In a ‘free’ environment, if we are pure in this regard, we earn the support of all leaders who forewent such pleasures for higher purposes.

Militants who declared themselves to be ‘free’ of official system, would have been so empowered to the extent they genuinely disciplined themselves. Consensual sex while acceptable in Natural environments, is an offence in current Tamil culture, if such enjoyment were outside the boundaries of marriage. Enjoyment without consent on the other hand is accepted if it is limited to marriage. The reason for this is the barter system in family through which relationships are maintained.

Truth works on the basis of our own actions. If we take benefits claiming to be bound by militants’ rules – and/or on the basis of their punishment of Armed Forces for raping, we become guilty when we enjoy those pleasures outside OUR rules. These could be the rules by the individual on her/himself and/or by a group that s/he is part of. That is the way of karma – often referred to as ‘fate’.

 To the extent the Armed Forces enjoy impunity the tendency of them continuing to offend is high. This was confirmed through the Police Officer who was disciplined by his group. The adaderana.lk reports about this as follows:

[Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Research (CHR) Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon stated that the September 26, Rohingya refugee incident was an elaborate scheme to mask the shocking rape of one of the Rohingya refugees by a Sri Lankan law enforcement officer.
     In a media release that was circulated yesterday (2), the CHR reported that a court case was lodged against a Police Officer who had allegedly abducted and raped a Rohingya refugee who was under the protection of the Lankan immigration authorities after she was returning from the hospital in August.
 The CHR states that the Policeman, who was off duty at the time, abducted the Rohingya refugee from the hospital posing as her escort who was supposed to accompany her back to the UNHRC safe house in Mirihana. Thereafter he had tied the woman and raped her for an entire night at a private residence, before dumping her in front of the hospital where she was found by local authorities.]

The claim of being victim of the Armed forces was diluted by the Tamil Refugee in custody who failed to follow even the cultural laws of his community. The above report about the Sri Lankan official confirms that in the Court of Natural Justice neither side had the authority to criticise the other. Hence when even one member of either community is seeking and upholding the Truth – both get demoted by the Public.