Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
18 October 2017
Veddas of Lanka and
Aborigines of Australia
[Speaking for myself, I would rather be an Abo in OZ than a Veddah in SL
!!!!!!!
Here
they are given special provisions for University entrance and I understand some
native Sinhalese migrants have tried to get these, FAIR DINKUM] The proud Sri Lankan who became
Aussie through assimilation.
The
above person ranks both Indigenous communities as ‘outsiders’. If that speaker were
part of one or both groups then he would
be global minded and he has the authority to rank. As per my knowledge this
person is member of Catholic group and neither indigenous of the two groups
taken as a whole is Catholic. The Sri Lankan example of this is presented as follows:
Vedda Chief Velayutham on their
way of life:
“We don’t hunt as much as we used to, but generally the game entails wild boar and deer. Due to restrictions by the wildlife conservation department and the civil administration, we have reduced our practices. We also extract honey from the forests from June onwards.”
On language: “Many Veddas here speak Tamil. We have been Hindus for years now. Our Vedda lineage split into two. During the time of the British, one sect branched off to Mahiyangana and Dambana and the others to the shores.”
“We don’t hunt as much as we used to, but generally the game entails wild boar and deer. Due to restrictions by the wildlife conservation department and the civil administration, we have reduced our practices. We also extract honey from the forests from June onwards.”
On language: “Many Veddas here speak Tamil. We have been Hindus for years now. Our Vedda lineage split into two. During the time of the British, one sect branched off to Mahiyangana and Dambana and the others to the shores.”
“We used to be in the forests during the time of the British. They took
us from there and built a Tamil school in Mankerny (which is also my
birthplace) and a Catholic Church right next to it, slowly converting most of
us to Christianity. This is why some Veddahs of the East have names such as
‘Antony’”.]
Thiva Arunagirinathan at https://roar.media/english/life/culture-identities/veddas-the-first-people-of-sri-lanka/
During my post Tsunami service, I was stationed at
Mankerny and I identify with the above through that direct experience. Here in
Australia, I upheld the Truth I knew about myself – that my knowledge in
Accounting ‘was made in Sri Lanka’. The positions through which I could enter
the workforce were much lower than the ones which I held in Sri Lanka. I stopped
saying I was a Chartered Accountant and hence facilitated myself to enter
through the lower positions. But my standards of performance were that of a mature Chartered Accountant – meaning small
position, big job. The parallel of that at family and community levels is that of a Mistress who had higher qualities
than the official wife needed to partner a high status husband. It was on this
basis that I was able to submit my proposals to President Madam Chandrika
Kumaratunga and it so happened that I went on my own. The passage was
facilitated by Minister the Hon Douglas
Devananda whom I met for the first time. I concluded then that both – the President
and the Minister - were fit to be in their respective positions vis-à-vis the People of Mankerny – majority of whom are Vedda
descendants. In turn, a passage was opened for me to give shape to my common
belief through these leaders as well. Since my own opportunity to serve the
folks of Mankerny happened ‘out of the blues’ so to speak, I sought and found the connection with Saint
Yoga Swami sharing the power of his faith in Lord Muruga of Kathirgamam. Saints
develop this power through which they forego pleasures at the lower level and
enjoy higher bliss – mind to mind until we become One Soul.
The basic rule of Nature, to my mind is
that at the physical level, every unit
of genuine pleasure produces its ‘other’ side – pain. Hence the Equal
Opposition (Pain) in a Democratic Parliament. When I enjoy pleasure before pain I owe
someone / some system a debt to that extent. That debt is settled immediately
when I pay my respects to the source of that pleasure. This could include my brain
and/or some deeper power but until I identify with that deeper power I need to ‘show’
respect to the source or be conscious of being indebted. The hierarchical
structure facilitates the ‘show’ of respect. In democracy – one who is not able
to so show needs to stay away to that extent. This helps that person not
accumulate more debt by staying as part of the same structure – to the extent
one becomes a slave. Highly civilized systems facilitate various kinds of
Separations of Power to facilitate the maintenance of Sovereign Borders by each
person/group. Once so separated we are entitled to Equal status. To my mind,
that is all the Common Sri Lankan Tamil is expecting as per her/his true
contribution to the Land called Sri Lanka – just like how we are Equal in
status to our children once they become active parents.
Sri Lanka is currently discussing whether
we need a Federal structure or continue with the Unitary structure of
Governance. The need for this inquiry is
presented as follows by Wikipedia:
[Federalism has long been advocated as a
means of resolving the ethnic issues and unbalanced development in Sri Lanka.
As
the unitary state has resulted in uneven development across Sri Lanka the Western Province dominates over the
other 8 provinces. Despite declining regional disparity Western province
continues to contribute most to the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) contributing
42% of the GDP while the second highest the Southern Province only represents
10.8% of the GDP while Uva and Northern provinces representing the
least with 5% and 3.6% respectively. Other provinces also have trouble
attracting capitals. This has resulted in calls for the abolishing of the
unitary system and powers being devolved.
Further
federalism has also been proposed as a solution the ethnic issues. The Tamil
minority is under represented despite being the majority in the Northern
province. This also lead to a civil war between the government
and Tamil Nationalist militants. After
the end of the war Northern province shares the troubles of finding funds to
rebuild damaged infrastructure and as a result of provincial governments being
unable to finance the reconstruction of destroyed factories and damaged
infrastructure to create employment. Federalism has been proposed as a method
for sharing power.]
Most in Government seek
Unitary structure. But unless the Natural qualities of Unitary structure are
maintained, such structure would prove to be unreliable. If the value of the
latent power of those opposed to this structure becomes stronger than the value
of Governance developed and maintained by the custodians of power of that Unitary
structure, the borders of Sovereignty of that group get damaged and relativity
through positions of that structure become unreliable. The common parallel is
the child who opposes a parent on the basis of Truth and/or investment in
higher principles than the parent. If the child then remained under that parent
and the parent continued to ‘tell’/administer the child then the parenting
becomes unreliable. The parent is entitled to be respected only to the extent
her/his investment in the common structure is stronger than that of the child.
If the official common structure is neglected, Truth overtakes and widens the borders of
Sovereignty to accommodate the child. If the parent / government becomes a ‘facility’
that the child could use as per her/his need – then the Sovereign powers of that
structure are strengthened within the existing (Unitary) structure. Otherwise,
parents are a separate unit and become the first amongst equals in a Federal
structure. If this is possible within families – then that person is the fit
leader to lead the Nation.
The value of Sovereignty is exponential and it
naturally invokes the powers of those who have invested in Sovereignty. In Sri
Lanka, the Government became one that ‘told’ those who were already
self-governing. English language was spoken/used in communication by leaders of
all ethnicities living in multicultural areas. But those who sought ‘immediate’
outcomes through the convenience of majority rule, plagiarized the British
system of Governance and tried to enforce ‘Sinhala Only followed by Buddhism Foremost’
provisions in the Constitution. To my mind, mere name change to claim ownership
is plagiarism.
Under British rule Sinhalese and Tamils were friends
as in the saying by the great Indian Political Philosopher Chanakyan - that the enemy of the enemy is a friend:
[The
king who is situated anywhere immediately on the circumference of the
conqueror's territory is termed the enemy.
The king who is likewise situated close to the enemy, but separated from the conqueror only by (the conqueror’s) enemy, is termed the friend (of the conqueror). – Chanakyan – the Indian Political Philosopher]
The king who is likewise situated close to the enemy, but separated from the conqueror only by (the conqueror’s) enemy, is termed the friend (of the conqueror). – Chanakyan – the Indian Political Philosopher]
To the Sinhalese
Kandyan Rulers, the British rulers on their borders were their enemy. Tamils who
were separated from the Kandyan Rulers were separated back then only by the
British. Hence the two (Tamils and Sinhalese) became friends. Likewise, when
Ranil Wickremesinghe was moving towards becoming President, LTTE became the friend
of Mr. Rajapaksa. Likewise, once the British left, Indians became the
conquerors in that region. Pro China Sinhalese Government became the enemy of
Indians and Lankan Tamils who were separated from Indian Tamils, by the
Sinhalese, became the friends of Indians.
As per Wikipedia
report:
[ Several heads of states such as S.W.R.D Bandaranaike, J.R
Jayawardena, and Chandrika Kumaratunga have also
accepted Federalism as a solution to the island's issues however did not
implement a federal system]
Federalism was/is to satisfy the international community
dominated by Westerners. But Politically, these leaders feared loss of votes to
the extent they promoted the ‘only’/’foremost’ syndrome through which they came
to power and enjoyed benefits. Hence they did not have the cooperation of Truth/Nature to form Federal structure in which they would
have had direct majority power only over the heads of other States. The Central
Unit would have been the parallel of ‘Buddhism Foremost’ which in Democracy is ‘First
amongst Equals’. In Democracy – the Leader is the first amongst Equal citizens.
Any higher status needs to be earned on merit basis through Common Current
measures available on Equal footing.
Those in
Government who enjoy majority power at a level greater than the citizen,
without earning higher status through merit – dilute the sovereignty of the
whole. That was when the Indians invaded Sri Lanka through Tamil militants who
were culturally close to Tamil Nadu and geographically through areas with least
visible physical separation.
When we claim that we are using Unitary structure
and the junior in the relationship completes her/his duty as per the junior
position and continues to operate within the stated Unitary structure as per
which Sovereignty is claimed – the real value of that Unitary structure would
empower the junior by pushing the borders to wider levels until the junior gets
supported by the power of majority which now has a different face. That is what
happened in Sri Lanka, until militants reacted at the lower level and converted
the merger into ‘takeover’/invasion.
The Sri Lankan Government that seeks Unitary
structure – needs to ensure that leadership of Tamils is recognized on merit
basis including through global minded members of the Diaspora. Once Global
structure is seen as the first amongst equal alternatives – enforcers on both
sides would be sidelined.
We can blame the Sri Lankan Government to satisfy
our ego. But the pain we take on to balance the unearned enjoyment of ego is
the balancing medication needed to enjoy real freedom – especially freedom of
thought, when we are with ourselves. That is true self-governance bliss.
Tomorrow is Deepavali – the day when the light of
wisdom eliminated the demon of ignorance based arrogance.
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