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-Slitting Gesture By “Patriot” Mimics Gruesome Habit’, a member of the Sri Lankan Diaspora living in the USA  responded as follows:
[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 21^st 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.