Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
23 April 2018
Facebook
Karma
As
I read the Quartz Heading “1984 - In Sri
Lanka, Facebook is like the ministry of truth.” - I burst out laughing.
Following
is an excerpt of what happened :
[Rumors of a Muslim plot to sterilize Sri
Lanka’s Sinhalese majority led to real-life violence in February that resulted
in the beating of a Muslim restaurant worker. He was falsely accused of spiking
the shop’s food with sterilization pills in the small town of Ampara.
Because of rumors on Facebook, a
lump of flour found in the food was transformed in the mind of the patron into
a sterilization pill. Language barriers between the Muslim operators and the
Sinhalese patron made it impossible to correct the falsity and a mob at the
restaurant formed beat the worker, destroyed the shop, and set fire to a local
mosque.
A mobile-phone video of the
incident got posted on a Facebook group called the Buddhist Information Center.
It spread, stoking violence toward Muslims across the country that resulted in
more than one death. Mobs in several towns burned mosques, shops and homes
owned by Muslims, the Times reported.
In March, the government of Sri
Lanka shut down Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Viber in an attempt to quell
ethnic strife in the country. But the issue of Facebook’s role remains.]
Shutting
down Facebook is an example of shooting the messenger. Below is a report of what happened in this
issue between myself and Asian Tribune who to my mind are not much more
regulated than Facebook users but are / were not banned by the Government:
‘Australian Human Rights Commission dismisses complaint
lodged against Asian Tribune
Thu,
2007-01-18 02:30 — admin
Sydney, 18 January, (Asiantribune.com): Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission (HREOC) has dismissed a complaint lodged against the Asian
Tribune by Ms Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam on the grounds of
"lacking in substance."
She had
"alleged racial discrimination in the provision of goods and services
within the meaning of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975". HREOC dismissed
her complaint saying: "Having considered all the information she has
provided to date, I am satisfied that Ms Paramasivam's complaint is lacking in
substance."
Her
complaint was based on the rejection of her comments by the Administrator of
the Asian Tribune who wrote:
Submitted
by Gaja on Tue, 2006-06-27 06:25.
Ms.
Gaja, It seems that you have so many personal problems. You have a habit of
making use of the forums to air your personal problems
Kindly
don't make use of the Asian Tribune forum to wash your dirty linen.
If you
persist airing your problems in the guise of making comments to the news items
posted in Asian Tribune,then we may have to remove your membership
in our forum.
Administrator
Ms.
Paramasivam responded by saying: "I challenge you to do so and face the
consequences."
She
has a history of complaining regularly. The following
complaint against Caritas is typical of
her string of complaints. When the AsianTribune reported
Duncan MacLaren,Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis of
saying:"Weare here (in Colombo) in solidarity with all those who believe
inpeace (in Sri Lanka), a peace with justice that is promoted through dialogue
between human beings, not through the barrel of a gun," she responded with
the following comments:
Mr.McLaren,
I am a
victim of Caritas here in Sydney, Australia. On 06 May 2005, I was sent to
Caritas by the Courts, for an assessment. The doctor in charge threatened me
with enforced medication and suggested that I ought to take instructions from
my husband and children. I had to pray hard to get myself out of the situation
and urged the medical team to contact my husband on the phone. This was done
and my husband informed them as to how highly I was valued by the Medical
Faculty of the University of New South Wales, and referred them to the Dean of
Medicine -Professor Bruce Dowton who gave a glowing reference about me on the
basis of my work. I believe that if not for that Goodwill from Professor
Dowton, I would have been more traumatized that night at Caritas. I was taken
back to Mulawa prison which felt heavenly after this ordeal. There I was placed
with mentally ill inmates and I decided not to eat any food except fruits -
which I felt were safe - in case they sought to enforce medication. I later
learnt from another inmate that they do inject medication if you are
disobedient.
What
authority does Caritas have to take a
higher position in Peace Development than the fighters / workers at the
coalface?
Her
comments on other issues to ran in a similar vein.
Editor's
comments : No comment.
- Asian
Tribune -
The
credibility of my sharing could easily have been checked with the sources that
my husband referred Caritas to – starting with the Australian Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission. That Commission limited its services to the level
of lower courts – requiring complainants to produce direct evidence that there
was racial bias. When the Police listed me as Sri Lankan despite my protests
that I was ‘Australian’ by law – they exceeded
their jurisdiction and that was a social opinion and not a lawful derivation. Yet
there was ‘no evidence’ verdict by the Commission. I was sent to prison by the
Vice Chancellor of the University of NSW – strongly infected by Americanism, who
used his position as a social medium and not as part of the boundary within
which the University upheld the order of law. Eventually Mother Truth took the
dismissal baton in Her hand to send the Vice Chancellor out of the University.
The
Quartz confirms:
‘The
social-media company isn’t quite like the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s
dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which works to change,
correct, and falsify news and information to keep Big Brother in power.
Facebook does not manipulate and edit the content on its site. It just provides
a platform for distribution.
But
that vast power has governments throughout the world questioning how social
media is shaping opinions and behavior, raising questions of censorship, free
speech, and technology’s ability to shape and form modern society.’
Good
governments whose relationships with citizens are regulated by law, based on
common belief, would not fear Facebook. If the official mainstream media,
likewise had regulated themselves and operated within their institutional
boundaries, they would not have lost their audience to Facebook users. Recently
I participated in a relevant conversation with a fellow Sri Lankan professional
who responded to my article ‘Is Terrorism
a thing of the Past?’
[Where Ignorance is Bliss It is Folly to be
wise
Don't caption your article with the word
Terrorism
In this country and perhaps in others as
well, writers have liberally used the word Terrorism. Applied it to all manner
of violations of discipline, social discipline and get away saying it is
Terrorism
Quite frankly if the definition were to be
applied loosely Terrorism begins with the parents who at times Terrorise the
children in order to discipline them or for other reasons
What about teachers in schools and then in
civil society the Law enforcing authority Terrorises you as if they were
the authorities of Terror. There is no greater Terrorist than the country’s
Police Force. Don't they terrorise the general public.
Take it easy
Terrorism has many faces]
I responded as follows:
[Thank you for sharing your
wisdom with me also.
I treasure the
experiences of continuing with engagements where the other side took
refuge in ‘blissful ignorance’ and used ‘freedom of expression’ to display that
ignorance. My belief in myself – helped me complete both side positions and
strengthened the common structure. One of the first Sri Lankan high officials I
so engaged with is the immediate past Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia
– Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe. He is a good man but badly brought up by his
government parents. I informed him that if his intention was to win over
the Tamil community of Lankan origin then to not refer to the Tigers as
Terrorists. In fact one could be sued for defamation over such statements
because LTTE is not listed as a Terrorist organization here in Australia. I think
that is how we Australians get insider information from communities.
You
say ‘Quite
frankly if the definition were to be applied loosely Terrorism begins with the
parents who at times Terrorise the children in order to discipline them or for
other reasons’
My two girls said as
teenagers when I asked them to stir the gravy – that it looked like the witch’s
brew. That meant that I was the witch to them. They said they would not
be strict with their children. One did not get married which I think because to
her ‘freedom’ was bliss. The other one has two daughters whom she is soft with
except when they are really disobedient. But when they are in my care – I
discipline them. I said to one when she was about 2 years old – and I referred
to her skirt as ‘dress’ that when ‘Patti’ says it’s a dress it’s a dress. She
needed me to allow her to play with the rotti dough – and hence she said ‘yes
patti it’s a dress’
I learnt early to reverse
terrorism charges. When the little one was about a year old and I insisted she
had to have shampoo – she moved to the other end of the bathtub and said ‘I
love grampsie and nana’ – her Dad’s parents. I said that’s ok – you still have
to have the shampoo. Then when I was towelling her dry, she said ‘Patti – you
don’t speak English’. Puzzled I asked her whether her Mum spoke English
and she said yes. Then I asked ‘what about Thaatha? (my husband whose Lankan
accent is stronger than mine) . Kali said ‘he speaks English’. Then I knew it
was her way of taking revenge. When the parents came home to pick her up – I
shared the experience with them and David asked her ‘what language does Patti
speak?’ Kali said ‘mandarin’ . She had a Mandarin speaking carer on some
days and she used it to say I was not ‘Australian’. If she were not my
granddaughter I would say that racism was budding in her. It’s belief that
absorbs such ignorance and prevents reverse terrorism. To the extent of our own
belief in the other – we could never be terrorised by the other.
You
say ‘What
about teachers in schools and then in civil society the Law enforcing authority
Terrorises you as they were the authorities of Terror. There is no
greater Terrorist than the countries Police Force. Don't they terrorise the
general public.’
The armed forces in North were seen as terrorists by the
few who were neither here nor there. But the rest is political hype which can
only be negated by opposite political hype. In this instance a leader in media
resorted to it and I became her/his opposition. Otherwise it is bad for Sri Lanka
where it was said and would have been open to be abused by those looking for
shortcuts. If it is good for Sri Lanka – it is healthy.
Warm Regards
Gaja]
The above sharing was strongly based on common
belief at that level. It would not go out of the boundaries of our relationship
through email. When there is lack of belief – one has to look within and not to
the other to blame or for cure.
The Facebook ban was the other side of the Truth
known to the Government about itself – that it banned global media from the
battlefields in 2009. So long as Tamils and other minorities remain within
their respective community boundaries and do not react – it’s a war between the Buddhists in Government and the Buddhists
in society.
The 1972 Constitution empowered Buddhist leaders –
due to lack of belief in Buddhist monks – one of whom murdered the Prime
Minister who expressed his political desire in the form of ‘Sinhala only’ Act.
Like Soorapathman – who changes form as per his desires that ‘Sinhala Only’ desire
is now sitting as ‘Buddhism foremost’ Article in the Constitution. For the
Constitution to be politically balanced – the desire of leader must become the
fear of the citizen. When this is regulated by law – the relationship is
confirmed.
But when the citizen takes over the Government – the
citizen’s pleasure becomes the Government’s pain. In democracy reverse
hierarchy happens when there is confusion between skin (majority vote) and
substance (belief based Administration). The mind obese from majority power is
unhealthy. A party that looks outside the
boundaries of relationship based on Belief, becomes distracted by hearsay. Non-Buddhists
are ‘outside’ the boundaries of Buddhist relationships. If they stay within the
Sovereign borders of their own communities – one can observe the manifestations
of Buddhism foremost karma. Minorities are entitled to protect themselves but not attack. That is
the non-violent, non-cooperation pathway shown by Mahatma Gandhi.
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