Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
07 February 2018
Tamil
Politicians – Sheep or Goats?
[But when the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the
throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then
the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father,
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I
was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was
sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’
“Then the righteous
will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or
thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you
in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come
to you?’
“The King will answer
them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of
these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say also to those on the
left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared
for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to
eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t
take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you
didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will also
answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger,
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
“Then
he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do
it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away
into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”] - From Matthew 25:31–46 – presented by Wikipedia
To my mind, the above is the parallel of the Hindu
philosophy of karma. As per my understanding of Hindu philosophy – god /
conscience within us records our actions and thoughts – not as per outcomes but
as per the purpose. This purpose could be conscious and/or subconscious and/or unconscious. Wikipedia
elaborates on the above as follows:
[This passage
directly addresses, in Jesus's own words, one of the most vexed questions in
Christian theology – who goes to Heaven, and why. A related question is whether
only orthodox Christians may be saved, or whether 'virtuous pagans' also may.
The three main theological positions in this regard are:
Justification
by Works
(Pelagianism):
The doctrine that one can be saved simply by doing good works. - British monk Pelagius
Justification by Faith: The doctrine that one is saved by,
and only by, faith. This doctrine is primarily associated with Martin Luther and
his successors.
Predestination:
The doctrine that
God has pre-decided (or, decided out of the flow of time as we know it) who
will be saved and who will be damned, using criteria in principle unknowable
to human beings. This doctrine is associated with Calvinism, Jansenism, and arguably St. Augustine.]
In
secular language – the above three pathways are driven respectively by:
(1) Merit
- regulated by Conscious mind
(2) Common
faith – regulated by the Subconscious mind
(3) Truth
– beyond the individual’s current or future direct control
In
the recent saga regarding Brigadier
Priyanka Fernando, after reading the
Colombo Telegraph article ‘Photographic Evidence
Shows Throat-
[Tell that to the President of Sri Lanka, who denies "war crimes"]
[Tell that to the President of Sri Lanka, who denies "war crimes"]
The
UK Times reports as follows about this officer:
[He
had been a senior officer in 59 Division of Sri Lanka’s army, which the United
Nations has accused of involvement in war crimes in the final stages of the
civil war. It implicated the division in the shelling of civilian hospitals in
2009. At least 40,000 Tamil civilians are believed to have died in the war.
Campaigners are alarmed that Brigadier
Fernando was allowed into Britain to take up his position last year.
Soldiers who took part in the final offensive against the Tamil Tigers were
banned from serving in the country’s United Nations peacekeeping contingent in
Mali.
“Accepting the credentials of military
officers to the UK without vetting them constitutes a serious breach of UK
commitment to human rights and the rule of law,” the International Truth and Justice Project in Colombo said.]
Which
pathway has the President who is reported to have revoked the suspension of the
above officer used in this instance? (1) Merit, (2) Faith Based Politics or (3)
the Truth ?
If
allegations of war-crimes had been escalated
to the global level through an Inquiry, the wrongdoings would not have slipped
into the area uncontrollable by us. Now they are in ‘Predestination’ category. Wherever
true victims of the unlawful acts of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces participate in
this kind of non-violent protests – Sri Lankan Government supported Armed
Forces who react now, would invoke their own karma not under the protection of
Sri Lankan Government – but under the investment made in global laws by the
nation that the victims are now part of and where the victims have also made positive
investment in expressing themselves at global standards.
As per the Daily Mirror
report ‘Debate on bond report not sub judice: Speaker’ :
‘The
main opposition party, TNA is not expected to take part in the debate.’
Telo – Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization also reports in this
regards as follows:
‘The
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Democratic National Front (DNF) have
informed the Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella that they will not
be participating in the debate on the 6 January pertaining to the Presidential
Commission of Inquiry report in connection with the Central Bank Treasury Bonds
scam.
TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran and DNF Leader, Minister
Mano Ganesan have notified Kiriella that since they will be engaged in Local
Government Election related activities, they will not be able to take part in
the debate.
During the Party Leaders’ meeting at the Parliamentary complex
chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, this was unofficially notified by the two
parties.’
Given that the leading
Defendants in this matter – Mr. Arjuna Mahendran and his on-in-law Mr. Arjun Aloysius
are Tamils, the TNA has the DUTY to participate actively to present the ‘other
side’ to the Government side which is taken to be one presented by :
1.
Justice K.T. Chitrasiri Judge of the Supreme
Court - Chairman, Commission of Inquiry
2.
Justice Prasanna Jayawardena, PC Judge of the
Supreme Court, Member of the Commission of Inquiry
3.
Kandasamy
Veluppillai esq Retired Deputy Auditor General, Member of the Commission of
Inquiry
The early analysis that facilitated the participation by lay
citizens came in March 2015, from Sam Samarasinghe and Dushyantha Mendis through their Groundviews article ‘The Bond Issue Controversy: An
Analysis’
The above Analysis facilitates ordinary investors in
Sri Lanka to pool their Common Faith-based energies to either side of the
Government when the matter is debated in Parliament. To my mind, this is also a
debate on Cash Accounting v Accrual Accounting practices which the Sri Lankan
Government has to consider when switching to Zero Base Budgetary system – a system
that Mr. Kandasamy Veluppillai Retired Deputy Auditor General - is not likely
to have invested in.
The authors of the article conclude as follows:
[The
voters of this country changed the government on January 8 because they could
no longer bear the injustice and corruption of the Rajapaksa administration.
Going by the daily revelations of corruption, deceit and worse that have come
to light in the last ten weeks, the people were right in their judgment. They
also believed in Mr. Maithripala Sirisena’s promise to usher in a new dawn for
the country with Yaha Paalanaya.
Those of us who are old enough to recall J R Jayewardene’s 1977
promise of a Dhaarmishta
Samaajaya may be rather cynical of what politicians promise.
However, about one third of the January voters were not even born in 1977. Only
about one in five voters who voted on January 8, voted in 1977. Thus a large
majority probably have more faith than some of us who are older, and believe
that Yaha Paalanaya would
become a reality after January 8. The Treasury bond scandal that we tried to
explain in this article appears to have caused a palpable sense of
disappointment if not dejection among these voters. However, it is not too late
to put matters right.
Appointing three lawyers who have no expertise in the subject to
inquire into the issue has not helped. Adding insult to injury the individuals
have been affiliated to the ruling UNP at one time or the other and that leaves
room to question their credibility. To minimize the damage a new committee with
relevant expertise should be appointed.
This episode highlights the need for strengthening the capacity
of the Central Bank. It also demonstrates the need for a thorough review of
laws and regulations governing the financial sector with the goal of creating a
new regulatory framework that suits the 21st century.
However, any laws and regulations or any sparkling new
institutions could be undermined by a culture of corruption. Yaha Paalanaya has opened public
space for criticism of the powers that be. This is a major achievement of the
new government. The new administration could further strengthen democracy and
improve the welfare of the nation by being more responsive to public concerns
and criticisms and, as a matter of priority, combating the culture of
corruption, which presently seems entrenched in Sri Lankan society]
The concerns and
criticisms of the Public needs to be passed though the Government and the
Opposition – towards intellectual support for prevention of such disasters in
the future. It is when both sides are 50:50 that there is just basis for a
democratic law to be established.
The higher intellectual participation of Tamils, based on
deeper faith than majority race, is
essential to maintain our deservedness to be Equal Opposition in Parliament
where majority tend towards Dual-citizenship attitudes – one as Sinhalese,
Tamil or Muslim and the other as Sri Lankan.
To my mind, it is
through the pooling of energies by Tamils who have invested deeply in global
administration, including through British ancestry that we can fulfil our DUTY
as a minority group holding Equal status in Parliament. Such promotion was
facilitated also by the Truth of our ancestors who did not have equal
opportunity to becoming Prime Minister through majority vote in a nation driven
by majority power at the primary level.
To my mind, it is no
coincidence that Brigadier Priyanka Fernando behaved as he did at the time Sri
Lankans – largely Sinhalese - celebrated 04 February as Independence day. It
was Predestination – not only due to
the negligence of Sinhalese leaders to uphold Dharma / Righteousness but also
by the cumulative value of Independence
that the British contributed to before they physically departed from Sri Lanka.
The picture taken by International Broadcasting Corporation (Tamil) – confirms that
others around Brigadier Priyanka
Fernando were also influenced to take pictures of the Tamil Protesters rather
than taking both sides.
It is interesting that
the Bonds issue surfaced through a Singaporean Tamil of Sri Lankan origin who
confirms dual-citizenship problems. Singapore boasts of Tamil contribution to
its stability. The Hon J.
B. Jeyaretnam, a Tamil barrister, made strong contribution to Singapore
Politics and became one of Singapore's well-known opposition politicians and
democracy advocates and in 1981 became the first
opposition member ever to be elected to Singapore's Parliament. THAT
confirmed Tamils’ equal status in Singapore
through Common faith as Singaporeans. If the
Hon J. B. Jeyaretnam could make it – so can every Tamil in Sri
Lanka.
Towards this, TNA needs to contribute more deeply than
majority race in issues of National and Global interests. We do not need to
take sides of individuals. We need to take the opposite side of the ‘issue’ to
represent the ‘other half of the nation’. When we do – Natural Forces will come to our
support as part of us and through us.
One of the groups of investors
who lost through the alleged insider trading is the EPF (Employees Provident
Fund) – representing the retirement investment of workers. TNA owes it to the
workers to present its 50% of the final outcome by escalating the issue
intellectually above politicians of majority race driven by the comforts of
easy subjective outcomes at the primary level.
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