Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

25 February 2018                                    

Lotus Buds or mud centipedes?   

[Leader of the Opposition and Tamil National Alliance Leader R. Sampanthan, has unmasked former President Rajapaksa's hidden political agenda during the debate last Monday (19) in Parliament. The thoroughly analytical speech made by Sampanthan has clearly pointed out where former President Mahinda Rakjapaksa stands in the present political scenario holding up his party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)'s symbol Lotus Bud.] Ceylon Today article Whither ‘Lotus Bud’?

The Lotus bud analogy confirms the higher structure of Mr Sampanthan’s mind due also to humility as minority power, as opposed to arrogance of majority power.

Journalist Manekshaw presents the logic of this picture as follows:

[Speaking at Veerasingam Hall, Jaffna, holding up his party symbol Lotus Bud in his hands the former President also stated that it was during his period the post-war development activities were carried out extensively in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

However, his speeches and statements made during the LG polls campaign trail in the South were very much in contrast to what he had said in the North and the East.

Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan who has been highly appreciated by the right thinking people throughout the country for making sensible comments since he became the Leader of the Opposition in 2015, responding to Mahinda Rajapaksa in Parliament has pointed out that the former President carried out his campaign very virulently in all the temples, in all the villages in the Sinhala South.]

Who are the ‘right thinking people’ in this instance? To my mind it is those who have invested in higher thought structures, based on their experience and/or those who are committed to global principles and values of democracy. The Hon Rajavarothiam Sampanthan inherited the position of leader of the opposition from all Tamil Politicians who had developed higher mind structures than their respective political opponents in Sri Lankan Parliament. It was this heritage that  saw the Hon Appapillai Amirthalingam become the leader of the Opposition in 1977 which happened again through the Hon Rajavarothiam Sampanthan in 2015 and will happen again and again in Sri Lanka, whenever the consolidated Tamil force is stronger than the consolidated Sinhalese force.  Those who seek weapon based separation on either side dilute this force for their side – as was demonstrated in London through the deportation of Brigadier Priyanka Fernando – an heir of the Rajapaksa heritage.

Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa tried to cheat the logic of this Equal Opposition by forming Joint Opposition after the 2015 Parliamentary elections, revealing a mind structure that is similar to armed militants. In mind structure he has to divide and rule to be sugar-daddy to both sides of the ethnic conflict which paved the way for him to become president. Given that he bribed the LTTE during the 2005 elections, Mr Rajapaksa would never know as to whether he would have become president in his own rights. His mind therefore returns to that structure and hence the ‘bribe’ through promises in Tamil areas. In South, Mr Rajapaksa promises Nationalism in the language of Sinhalese who fear the LTTE. Mr Rajapaksa identified with and pointed to his own Truth when he thought he was in a ‘free’ environment:

[The undiplomatic nature of some of the comments made by the former Norwegian minister,whether they were true or not, must be the result of his somewhat bitter last encounters with the former president. To mention a case in point, during an interview former “The Hindu” Editor N. Ram had with Mahinda Rajapaksa in July 2009 the latter’s secretary Lalith Weeratunge had intervened to say: “It was about March 2006 when Mr. Solheim came to see H.E. after he became president and had also said, in the midst of other things: ‘Prabhakaran is a military genius. I have seen him in action etc., etc. to which the President had responded: ‘He is from the jungles of the North. I am from the jungles of the South. Let’s see who will win!’ It was very prophetic. Later the President met Minister Solheim in New York and reminded him of their conversation on the ‘military geniuses,’ of the jungles of the North and South, and who would win. The East had by that time, in 2007, been cleared and the President had said: ‘Now see what’s going to happen in the North,[ it will be ]the same.”] Daily Mirror article dated 06 November 2015‘The Solheim claim: Mahinda ‘ planned to offer the North to Prabhakaran’

The gullibility of the Jaffna Tamil housewife with neither the experience nor the higher knowledge in Government was manifested, by the State Minister of Child Affairs, Vijayakala Maheswaran who entered Parliament as Jaffna’s representative as follows, about a year after the above report:

[ If LTTE leader Prabhakaran had been living today he could have become the Prime Minister of the country, said the State Minister of Child Affairs, Vijayakala Maheswaran.

She said so during a ceremony at the Kilinochchi District Secretariat to grant compensation to the Kilinochchi General Market stall holders whose stalls were gutted in September.

“The Vadamarachchi area was renowned for Education. LTTE leader Prabhakaran, was from Valvettithurai. Compared to all of our presidents none could hold a candle to Prabhakaran’s leadership,” she said.] Daily Mirror article dated 29 December 2016- "Prabhakaran could have been PM if he was alive": Minister

Education has to be certified by one who has invested in education as the foremost pathway to Independence. LTTE leader was a ‘failure’ in the Education system of Northern Sri Lanka and he murdered parts of that structure when he murdered educated persons of Jaffna – including Mr Chelliah Anandarajah, principal of one of the prestigious colleges in Jaffna – St John’s College which supported the education of many members of my family. Elected members like Mrs Maheswaran dilute the Government’s share of investment in intellectual pathways to Independence.

The Jaffna Tamil’s investment in education is the lotus flower that blooms in the muddy, stagnant waters of the local ponds. The benefits we forego become the structures through which we invest and enjoy returns beyond current times. Those who damage those structures become the muddy waters and not the lotus flower fit for worship. In the system of education, both side jungle leaders are muddy waters who need to stay stagnant in their local areas to have the opportunity to produce the flower fit to be part of spiritual ceremonies. We call them the ‘mattais in kuttais’ / centipedes in muddy pools.

Education leads to intellectual independence. Once we feel gratitude to those who facilitated our  education, we carry the completed experience as Energy. In place of natural gratitude, if we pay our respects to our Educational elders – we carry the structures through which we learnt. The latter is the slower pathway but would support us beyond one generation while Energy is of Universal value. Without this structural heritage or natural gratitude – we become stagnant at cost-benefit level and this eventually muddies the waters through restlessness of those who have the skills but lack the opportunities due to disrespect to their parents, teachers and ancestors. A true Jaffna Tamil will demonstrate this respect for elders in Education and therefore carry their structures with care even in a war environment – as many Jaffna Tamils did. They are the true Tamil heroes of the current generation.