Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

12 August 2018

Tamils Leading Opposition in Sri Lanka – An Act of God

[When the current Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan was appointed to this post in September 2015 there was all round approval for him even by the hard-line Sinhala MPs in parliament. There was no question about his qualifications and experience and many expected the senior politician to deliver the goods on behalf of the minority Tamils. ] – Daily Mirror article ‘Opposing Sampanthan, is this the time?’

The question here is who appointed Mr Sampanthan as Opposition Leader? – the President, the Prime Minister, Majority Members of Parliament ?  NO. The system of Democracy appointed Mr Sampanthan through himself. Not only Tamils and but other races – especially Sinhalese also contributed to this through their investment in Self Governance. The minds of the architects and maintainers of the system of Democracy connected through Belief to make this possible.

The author of the above article states ‘it’s wise to have Sampanthan continuing in this pivotal post, given that the outside world is monitoring the welfare of this minority group during the post war reconciliation process’

That reminds me of  my own words to my parallel of Central Administration at the University of NSW to whom I wrote a long memo (Appendix) after I felt suppressed. – I wrote to my senior as follows ‘… At that time you said that Mr. Lidbury had said ‘what if the Auditors saw this?’.  I then said to you ‘Why? Do we have anything to hide? Let us do it right and fear no one.’ The Auditor General did not need my memo’ to find out – he found out himself – as was confirmed by his report that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald of 05 November ’98. Had your department heard me and discussed matters objectively – we would today have progressed well in the direction of true Accrual Accounting and effective Budgetary and Reporting Systems.’ – Appendix 3 Naan Australian

[Note : It was on 05 November 1998 that Kungkumum (Red Holy Powder) manifested on my picture of Sri Sathya Sai Baba – even though I was not a devotee back then – but kept the picture in appreciation of my cousin Vara Acca – whose son was killed in 1983, in India by Tamils who mistook him for Sinhalese. That manifestation, to me was Divine intervention – meaning the consolidated value of my investment in my Sovereignty]

It was much later that I realized that back then in Australia, I was going through the experience of ‘preserving my sovereignty’ through the system of Democracy which was designed to redeem those who successfully maintained their sense of ‘independence’ despite the pain by autocrats who lacked belief.  Given that majority in Sri Lanka who ‘included’ me were of Tamil origin – my investment in Democracy at Energy level would have naturally added Itself to that of Tamils to ‘show’ the value of their investment at the elevated level. Even now, the best contribution I make o Sri Lanka is through that side that ‘includes’ me naturally. That is the value of Commonness.  Tamil activists in the Diaspora who actively show opposition to anything that seems Sinhala-Buddhism – would not feel naturally empowered by this Energy because they practice reverse autocracy. This includes Mr Wigneswaran who is  contrasted as follows in the article:

[Sampanthan, unlike the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V Wigneswaran, has found a way to coexist with the Yahapalana regime. He seems to prefer the non-aggressive approach to find a political solution to the national question. 

In the meanwhile, the Government has found it a challenge to deal with Wigneswaran who prefers to put across his views and demands with a clenched fist. What Sampanthan has to realise is that nothing gets done in Sri Lanka without the parties that are in need staging protest or making aggressive demands. Many felt that Sampanthan was too soft in his stance as Opposition Leader, hence the little progress he has made in winning the rights of the Tamil community. ]

If Mr Wigneswaran had been the leader of the Opposition in National Parliament – he would have invoked another war by now – by empowering the activists in Parliament. During our recent discussions within the Tamil Diaspora, I said to a guy who ‘opposed’ anything ‘Sri’ at form level – that he was becoming more like Cyril Mathew who according to Dr Dayan Jayatilleke’s father Mr Mervyn de Silva stated ‘The history of Sri Lanka, … was the history of the Sinhalese, ‘and nothing else.’

I then used the Mahabharatham example of Sakuni – the mentor of majority side, whose gambling dice were his weapons. According to the legend when Lord Krishna stood in front of the mirror that showed the image of one who thought of the person most – the mirror showed Sakuni. Normal mirrors reflect oneself. This mirror reflected the one who thought of our form most. During the panel discussion on Shakthi TV – this ‘influence’ was expressed in relation to Mr Sumanthiran – the leadership heir of TNA – that he was Rajapaksa speaking in Tamil. To the extent agreements are at surface level minorities are likely to be influenced by majority. Hence the DUTY to oppose at form level.

Those who are limited to form – would start gambling through what happened, once they exhaust the Belief based Energy. That is the lesson we learn through Sakuni character who is for himself, with very little investment in commonness. Any opposition in Democracy, beyond our Belief,  generates enemies and therefore war.  The deeper our investment in an issue the wider our network through Belief.

The more Tamils believe through Hinduism the stronger the Natural support from India – the world’s largest Democracy. That kind of belief based support is confidentially and naturally shared. But to access it we need to feel and not merely think. To some such manifestations may seem coincidental. But believers know.

Tamil Leadership in Parliament may come to any end with the next election. But Tamils must actively oppose autocratic ways – to maintain the Spirit of Democracy which seems to evade majority race who tell more than they listen. If leaders of  majority race listen as Sri Lankans -  they would naturally include minority races. If they fail, we would repeat the war-experience.

Appendix

Excerpt from Appendix 3 Naan Australian

Note – FSD = Financial Services Division – part of  Central Administration.

……As I asked you then – do you go through the same process with all the Admin Officers in all the faculties? If so – how come I was not instructed to do this when I was part of  FSD?  It is a clear case of discrimination to me and through this communication which is being copied to the Director of Human Resources – I am lodging a formal complaint – not just about what happened today – but also what you did back then. You even wanted to check with my former employers just because I had criticized the FSD systems. I was not just critical – I gave you the answers. At that time you said that Mr. Lidbury had said ‘what if the Auditors saw this?’.  I then said to you ‘Why? Do we have anything to hide? Let us do it right and fear no one.’ The Auditor General did not need my memo’ to find out – he found out himself – as was confirmed by his report that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald of 05 November ’98. Had your department heard me and discussed matters objectively – we would today have progressed well in the direction of true Accrual Accounting and effective Budgetary and Reporting Systems. Despite all this – this is exactly what I am giving the schools – and more. I give them Cost Benefit Analyses by Subject and by Staff – so they can operate more efficiently and effectively. You and others within FSD will not stop me from helping the schools. All you are doing is to slow down the pace of progress. But despite your hindrance progress will take place – whilst your department adds to the cost of bureaucracy that brings little or negative value in some instances. If your department had given the service – the schools would not have called me back. Back then you wanted reference checks even though it was all done when I was first recruited – as Jeff Warnock confirmed. If you had gone ahead – you would have only heard good things about me Kerry – as you would from the schools again. In your vocabulary – when someone suggests some progressive ways – that person has an attitude problem. I hear that FSD is now considering Grant Reporting on Accrual basis – the issue over which all my problems with FSD started in the first instance. Ironical isn’t it? That you harass me and I resign and then you propose to adopt the very system I recommended in the first instance. That’s justice for you. What will you do this time – harass me enough so I leave and then adopt Cost Benefit Analyses? One needs wisdom in these systems Kerry. If you had contacted my previous employers this is exactly what they would have told you – that I turned them from Cash Accounting to fully Fledged Accrual Accounting Business Units with monthly Reporting which included Cash Flow Statements and Variance Analyses – using Key Performance Indicators. That is what I am trying to develop within the schools and I am succeeding. The Heads of Schools are very interested and have started using the reports. If you want to hinder the process – please go ahead and make it more difficult for the likes of me who want to do an honest job. At the end of the day that is what you carry inside you – not your money not your position – but the satisfaction that you have done an honest job and helped the needy. I have faith in the Australian system of democracy – I know it will help me achieve this. After what you and your department did to me last time – I wrote to one of my referees Ms Colleen Moore and told her that she will not be my referee in future. I could not face the humiliation of her thinking that my services were not valued by UNSW. She was my supervisor for five years and would cry each time I wanted to leave. I went from $29k p.a. to $110K p.a. within two years. That is how highly I was valued by the Commercial Services Group. This was repeated at Health Services. And yet you could not gather all this from the certificates I had given you and the letters I wrote to you. You made up your mind that I was trouble. Anyone who differs in their views must be trouble makers in your eyes – the same quality that was so highly valued by other more progressive institutions. If you were any kind of professional you would fight me objectively Kerry – as you tried to – using Public Finance & Audit Act for an issue regarding receipts. If you recall, you were quoting section 12 of the Act. I then told you that section 12 referred to Payments and not Receipts. I was able to tell you this – because I have wisdom in managing Public Finances. I designed Payment Vouchers and set up a fully integrated Purchasing and Accounts Payable system while at Commercial Services Group. I knew section 12 upside down. You only confirmed that you were trying to frighten me. Try someone else Kerry – I have too much wisdom for you to succeed with me. In the meantime you are providing poor leadership to those like Andrew and Penny. I strove so hard  to train Andrew in Customer Service – and I did succeed – as the schools would confirm. But you are now ruining it all for him. The schools will continue to get the service from me – but poor Andrew would  suffer.  Just last week I was saying to Phil that I would like to take Penny along with me to the schools so she would feel more comfortable to provide support services to them. But now you have ruined it all – by putting the fear into her and given her the impression that I am a social pariah in your eyes. Well done Kerry – Just remember that what goes around comes around. As a professional I would have expected you to read from the constitution and do your duty in accordance with the expectations of the law – not the biddings of others in power. I am truly disappointed with you and with Phil. Others within the profession would be embarrassed by  your(lack of)  professional standards. Just before I go – what you started off – results in me throwing away all my professional certificates and my references. I do it with my raw self from zero base now – that’s how much wisdom I carry.