Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

30 November 2018

How about Maaveerar Naal at Jaffna Court Complex?

Economy Next report headed ‘Sri Lanka president indicates ending power-struggle shares with us the following message:

‘President Maithripala Sirisena indicated a softening of his stance and agreed to end the constitutional deadlock by recognizing the United National Party as being the largest single group to form a new government, official sources said.

Talks between him and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya ended on an optimistic nore, the Speaker’s office said without giving details of their closed-door talks with the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo’

To me this is a victory to those who genuinely followed Due Processes in Sri Lankan Public Administration and Parliament. Due Processes confirm our heritage and adherence to them confirms our respect for our ancestors who live with us through such Due Processes. Feeling Gratitude is the deepest connection to the systems that facilitated our present.

A Sri Lankan journalist drew my attention to Shenali Waduge’s article headed :

‘Commemorating Maaveerar Naal is Tamil people’s right – Wigneswaran” – then who is going to commemorate Tamils killed by LTTE’

That brought to mind, a family experience in which a close relative joined an older family friend who was taking credit by stating that my mother did not cook well. The young relative got carried away by the ‘gossip’ that the older family friend who is also friend of my mother’s,  demoting my mother to elevate her own status in cooking. I openly recalled my mother’s culinary skills through special dishes I enjoyed then – such as Rotti and Tomato curry – which my grandchildren love due to my practice of my heritage. My youngest granddaughter said a few years back ‘Your first name is Rotti and your second name is Patti!(Grandmother). The little one would have been just four years old then. But to me it felt as if my mother was also blessing me through the little one – because  I carried forward the heritage as a permanent consciousness. Much of this heritage is through Due Processes born out of our shared difficulties relative to others with greater comforts. These Due Processes render us our Dignity.

To respond to Shenali – yes, Mr Wigneswaran has joined the bandwagon celebrating militancy – just like the above  young relative joined the old friend to ‘gossip’ and thus ‘lost’ the connection to her own heritage. Mr Wigneswaran has the DUTY to carry forward the heritage that supported him to become a judicial leader. The early signs that Mr Wigneswaran was disconnected to his heritage surfaced when Mr Wigneswaran was the chief guest at a ceremony in Thunaivi – Vaddukoddai for the opening of  a cultural building built by a member of the Tamil Diaspora on someone else’s land. The parallel of that is for Maveerar Naal to be celebrated at Jaffna Court Complex.

LTTE values are not more traditional than the family heritage of  Mr Wigneswaran – which was developed also by Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan about whose heritage I learnt from the conduct of  Professor Henry Sathanthan first and then from Wikipedia:

[Ramanathan was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1889 Birthday Honours. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1921. Ramanathan founded two schools in northern Ceylon – Parameshwara College, Jaffna and Ramanathan College. In 1907 Ramanathan rebuilt the Sri Ponnambala Vaneswara Temple at Sea Street in Kochchikade, founded by his father. He helped establish the Hindu Education Board in 1923 and served as its president and manager of schools. He was also president of the Thiruvalluvar Maha Sabai in Madras.  Ramanathan and other leading figures founded The Ceylonese, an English-language newspaper, in 1913. He was president of the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club from 1917 to 1930. Ramanathan opposed extending voting rights to the people and urged reservation of franchise only to men of the Vellalar caste.]

These two colleges are the foundation of University of Jaffna where Maaveerar day was celebrated to honor those who suppressed all Tamils of Northern Province their right to vote in the 2005 Presidential Elections. I shared in this ‘suppression pain’ through my folks in Northern Sri Lanka. More recently I understood  why the Senior caste did not want voting rights for the junior caste. It is like today’s age based right. The lesson I learnt from my current experience – without any hierarchical borders is that the juniors start ‘telling’ seniors when we are in the territory where they are in majority.

Thunaivi – Vaddukoddai is a toddy tapper village. To be a senior there – one has to be senior in their culture and therefore junior in law and order. Likewise with LTTE areas. I put up with many such excesses especially from the younger generation and continue to facilitate their merger with mainstream community – starting with me as an equal with the person of highest status in their culture.  Since 2016 when our Pongal celebrations were disrupted by youth playing loud cinema songs – I stopped staying there but stayed in my home area of Jaffna – where I believe my heritage protects me. But I continued to tutor students from that area until the best of them told me recently how I should structure my teaching work!  That is the way of majority power without discipline – strongly driven by immediate outcomes. It demotes the whole.

Power through ‘ Immediate visible outcomes’ is also unjust discrimination – adversely affecting those who escalated their pathways to the highest level – by foregoing immediate pleasures. The above mentioned cultural hall that Mr Wigneswaran ceremonially opened is confirmation of such habitual occupation of others’ territory. By celebrating those cultures – through LTTE we become traitors to our own culture that carries the dignity of education as its core value. Higher education teaches us to escalate benefits as opportunities and beyond as ownership.  

Mourning the dead is due process in most cultures. But whom we celebrate confirms the height of our heritage. In terms of Common Law – common to the highly  educated and less  educated Tamils,  armed militants who openly opposed democracy - are ‘foreigners’. Likewise the Sri Lankan soldiers who killed for lower level pleasures but were not disciplined. By honouring  Tamil militants, their heirs are honouring also the Sri Lankan soldiers against whom the Tamil Diaspora is continuing to push for war-crimes investigation. It defeats also the ‘genocide’ claim because LTTE killed the heirs of Tamil Education. We respect our own Educational Heritage by staying away from such celebrations. Mr Wigneswaran may be part of that culture for whatever reason. This is why he did not connect to the Administrative heritage of his own family ancestors. Likewise all young lawyers who USE militant heritage for their own purposes as current costs – to derive current benefits. They include Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Kumaravadivel Guruparan, Visvalingam Manivannan and Sugash Kanagaratnam. Good militants must be respected as being of different culture. Their culture should not be applied to all Tamils – especially as Shenali highlights –  Tamils who were killed by militants to ‘show’ power. Those Tamil elders protect me when I function in Thunaivi. I honor them as my elders.

Former Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran’ husband was killed while praying at Sri Ponnambala Vaneswara Temple. Had he and his wife who later sang the praise of LTTE in Jaffna – failed to pay their respects to the founders. Had they done so – they would have been protected by the Energies of those elders. I feel protected at that temple which I believe is due to my admiration that the temple functions at high standards even when there are only a few devotees. I believe that I brought forward that value to our family temple in Thunaivi-Sangarathai where not many devotees come now due to my rules.

We have a saying in Tamil for the above youth as well as professionals who fail to demonstrate the dignity of education (and this includes Mr Sirisena) – Avittu Vitta Maadukal (unleashed cattle).  

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

29 November 2018

Sue them Dr Guruparan Sue them!

Yesterday’s mail reminded me of University of Jaffna Academic Dr  Rajani Thiranagama who was reported to have been killed by the LTTE. The question then arises whether an institution of higher education ought to be remembering and honoring armed militants and forgetting Academics whose lives were taken by those very armed militants.

We are all part of various families, institutions and nations. We naturally represent them and to that extent we have rights that the whole is entitled to. Recently, when counselling a couple in Northern Sri Lanka, in regards to their close relative who was separated from her husband, allegedly due to abusive language used by the husband, after a point – they started ‘telling’ me in terms of structuring my work. They indicated that  ‘I was interfering’. The real reason I saw through my insight was  - that I advised them against ‘finding fault’ with the above husband. I said they had every right to find fault with their relative through common principles but not the husband directly. That was when they started ‘telling me’ through majority power.  I then had to bring about ‘closure’ as a mark of respect for Education that they were rejecting. But there also – they showed that ‘they’ were bringing about the closure. That is the way with those driven by ‘outcomes’. Finally they shared with me the news that the son who was Skype-tutored by me for less than a term had achieved 82% relative to 58% last term. But they did not take the offer to continue with that service which extended to counselling service to the parents.   The mother said her son was clever but careless! I said that the 24% (82-58) was mine and that of the student who was open to being disciplined by me. I said both parents had been selfish in terms of getting involved in their son’s education. They could take credit for providing the facility – which was part of the 58%. But the ‘24%’ which stands above average – was mine and my disciplined student’s.

The parallel of that in University of Jaffna is the Academic work by Academics who have researched and found the Truth about Tamil militancy. If University students overwhelmingly honor armed militants – then they automatically downgrade academic achievements. Dr  Rajan Hoole honours Academics of the University of Jaffna as follows:

[Rains and early gloom harbinger the dying year. Fields are ploughed and sown in readiness for the earth’s renewal and the yield of her bounty. It was at such a time that Rajani Thiranagama was killed by the LTTE twenty-nine years ago. Her questions and aphorisms often challenged our assumptions at their core. The following Appeal authored by her in October 1988 appeared in Laying Aside Illusions signed by 50 academics in the common room of the University of Jaffna:

“We have to examine not only our relations with the Indian and Sri Lankan States, but also ourselves. Our obeisance to terror within the community, our opportunism and lack of principles in the face of many internal killings, have made it easy for external forces to use the same weapons to control us. In the face of our acquiescence to anti-democratic tendencies within the community, our plea for democracy becomes a meaningless exercise. Many individuals and young persons who voiced criticism of the political forces have been victimised, driven away, or killed while we looked on.”]

The level at which we stop listening to others is the level at which we take leadership status.

In his article of 05 November 2018, headed ‘Sri Lanka’s political crisis explained, and what it means for the island nation’s Tamil community’ Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan head of Law at the University of Jaffna, states about the Sri Lankan president in relation to the  national level political crisis:

[He undid that “revolution” on October 26 this year when he sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and appointed Rajapaksa in his place. He did so ignoring the constitutional amendment he had helped pass after coming to power in 2015, which had done away with the president’s power to remove the prime minister. He thus triggered what is being called Sri Lanka’s first unconstitutional transfer of power – a coup

Why did Sirisena take this extraordinary step?

First, Sirisena won the 2015 presidential election on the strength of the votes of the minorities – Tamils, Muslims and Malayaha (up country) Tamils. He lost the Sinhala vote to Rajapaksa. It was clear from the very beginning that Sirisena suffered from a sense of inferiority at the fact that despite being head of state, he was not recognised as leader of the Sinhala Buddhists, the country’s majority community.]

Dr Rajan Hoole in contrast presents the following:

[Tamil Nationalism: Loss of Direction and the Fatal Betrayal 

We need not waste time today trying to separate Tamil Nationalist politics from the LTTE’s legacy and the glorification of Prabhakaran. After all, politicians of the TNA (Federal Party), TNPF (Tamil Congress), Chief Minister Wigneswaran, miscellaneous academics and the mainstream Tamil media compete for ownership of this legacy. A pseudo-logical argument currently in vogue is that Chelvanayakam who had lost faith in the Sinhalese leadership, blessed the incipient militancy by garlanding Sivakumaran’s statue in Urumpirai, and therefore Prabhakaran as saviour. Rajani trashed the basis of such claims in the Broken Palmyra.]

Dr Guruparan lacks the inner experience to support his presentation. In contrast Dr Rajan Hoole stays within his own experience in presenting the above picture. The reason for Dr Guruparan’s presentation lacking ‘insight’ is the same as why Mr Sirisena dismissed Mr Wickremesinghe – due to lack of insight into UNP and its leader but claiming  to be ‘Common’ to get the ‘votes’. Majority Tamil voters did vote as per Tamil National Alliance’s leadership message. More to the point – Sinhalese Parliamentarians divided enough to facilitate TNA becoming the Equal Opposition in National Parliament.

Does Dr Guruparan as an academic who is highly vocal on this subject matter know the ‘forces’ that caused this Natural elevation?

Nationalism / Sovereignty has to be ‘Experienced’ if one were to naturally represent her/himself as the representative of the whole. In the case of Sri Lankan National Politics – the reasons ‘why’ could be known only by someone who is ‘common’ to all cultures in one’s ‘home area’. Those like Dr Guruparan who demonstrates strong contribution to Tamil Nationalism – have the DUTY to refrain from ‘speculating’ about why ‘Buddhists / Sinhalese’ did what they did. It is speculation because Dr Guruparan did not claim to be Sri Lankan Nationalist nor has  he demonstrated  the experience of living and feeling as Sri Lankan. One who has the experience would have the ‘insight’ at the depth that s/he feels. This is what I had in  University of NSW and in Australian Public Administration. It’s through that insight that I identified with my contribution to the dismissal of the Vice Chancellor and later Mr John Howard who was then Prime Minister  and against whom I took Legal Action.

I identify with my contribution due to my genuine participation through Due Processes. Due Processes to my mind are the essence of the work by ancestors in that issue/institution. By respecting Due Processes we respect those ancestors. Thus we invoke their Energy to guide and support us in areas of our need. I knew I would lose in Courts due to the other side being high profile. But I earned that higher level status by following Due Processes step by step despite the ‘defeats’ and ‘dismissals’ on the way. To me those Due Processes  are  Ancestral Energies and are divine.

In Northern Sri Lanka do lawyers like Dr Guruparan have experience in Thesawalamai Customary Law – as it was developed by our ancestors? If yes, why is the Judiciary in North so very weak in their judgments using Customary law that most Northerners practice regularly?  If the militant lifestyle is a heritage then participation in Sri Lankan politics as Equals is stronger heritage. As Ms Shantha Abimannasingham, said to me during paid consultation, in relation to our testamentary case – current earnings of a bachelor  have to pass through parents – to qualify as Muthusum (heritage). So, which heritage do we pass our current actions through – Militancy or Politics/ Administration based on Global standards or De facto practices as per militant leaders?

One needs courage to take Equal position as minority. When SBS News sent me the article headed ‘Teenager comes out as gay in Sydney Catholic school assembly’ I watched the video and stood up with tears in my eyes. This experience was not because I am gay but because I  am a minority who had the courage to declare my Equal status – not worrying about what others would think – including that I was crazy. Not one Tamil outside my immediate family supported me in public. But I supported myself through my contribution to Tamil self-governance also.

Has Dr Guruparan sued anyone in Sri Lankan Courts over the crimes committed in the 2009 battle?  If not he lacks the authority of experience to make subjective statements about other people’s experiences. Sue them Dr Guruparan – if you have the courage. Don’t sue for outcomes – sue to defend ownership  - so your work goes directly to natural policy – especially if you lose in your own territory and feel the pain of demotion – as I did in Sydney as well as in Jaffna. My returns happened at the highest level – through my book Naan Australian taking its place in National Library of Australia – due to the blessings of all those who had courage  to take their Natural positions. Finn Stannard is the youngest prince of minorities to receive my blessings.

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

28 November 2018

Tamils Disrespecting Dead Militants?

The message ‘Tamil Eelam is Alive & Well’ is being shared amongst Alumni of Colombo-Sri Lankan professionals, based on the Colombo Telegraph article ‘Defying Confusing Magisterial Orders: Prabhakaran’s Birthday Celebrated Widely’.

Of special interest to me is the following part of that article:

[The University of Jaffna has been decorated as if it is a huge cemetery. Loudspeakers blaring LTTE songs are so noisy that they can be heard up to the Thinnaveli Market which is about 1.5 km away. 

Jaffna Hindu College is also celebrating, and the crowds are so huge that KKS Road where the school is located is almost impassable. All of the Passaiyoor Coast is blocked by the crowds celebrating. 

‘Significantly, commemorative celebrations are also held by huge crowds gathering at the ITAK Office on Martyn Road, Jaffna which leads to the Jaffna Railway Station.  The Jaffna Magistrate, S. Saseekaran, when the police applied for a ban on LTTE leader’s birthday celebrations, prohibited the use of LTTE symbols, but said that remembering dead persons cannot be stopped.’

Honoring war heroes is a sombre experience to the genuine mourner. Those who celebrate it like a carnival are actually insulting the dead by deriving current pleasures out of the work of the dead. The article ends with the following connection to the political turmoil in National Parliament:

[A university observer said that President Maithripala Sirsena’s lead in ignoring the highest law of the land, our constitution, has led to this total lack of law and order in the country as different magistrates give different rulings and even these are disobeyed in the confusion.]

One could also state that the different orders confirm political interference – direct or indirect. When both are within our own minds – the interference happens continuously and indiscriminately. To my mind, the Doctrine of Separation of powers between the Judiciary and the Executive is towards preventing such interference. The judiciary has the duty to start with intellectual reasoning through the law and use belief on the basis of discretionary powers – at the end – if the intellectual application fails to show a clear outcome. In Administration by Parliamentarians – one has the duty to start with belief and cap it with intellectual application of the law where necessary.

I learnt through my advisory role in the case of  Academic Dr Dharshanan – that at the University of Jaffna, political decisions are presented as judicial decisions and that the legal experts within turn a blind eye to such practices. It is therefore not surprising to me that the University of Jaffna failed to respect the Judicial orders in honouring their dead heroes. It was Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa who invoked the Jaffna militancy this time. This happens when one accuses another, way above the earned level of the accused.  By criticizing the LTTE way above its earned level – the Rajapaksa regime infected itself with the negatives – that are now manifesting. The turnaround happened due to those whose status was tarnished outwardly through carte blanche to claim anti-terrorism credits in Sri Lanka. Even one such victim with high credit in Non-Violent pathway to self-governance has the power to return the debits to sender.

This applies also to Tamil Judiciary and legal fraternity. Yesterday, my attention was drawn by Tamil Diaspora leaders to the interview with the Hon Dharmalingam Siddarthan by Athavan TV (25-11-2018). In that interview Mr Siddarthan claims that the Tamil People’s Council of which his party is also a member, is a People’s Council and not a Political grouping. But the makeup of the Council seems strongly political and fails to show strong participation by civilians – individually and/or as groups.

Next to Truth, the law is the most powerful tool of  any minority community. To my mind, it is part of our education confirmed through practice and logical reasoning between causes and effects. It thus invokes the exponential power of others who practice the law as a first measure.

In his article ‘Legal Fraternity Conspires Against The Election Commission’ Mr K Sivapakiam highlights many weaknesses in  Legal Fraternity in Northern Sri Lanka, which I identify with through my own direct experiences:

 

1.     (a)  - as  per the above report – ‘The first concerns the TNPF launching its manifesto for the local government elections of 10 February 2018 from the Maviddapuram Temple. Several newspapers and Facebook pages of TC (Tamil Congress) candidates boasted of the event at the famous temple and displayed photos of the TC leaders at the event. Mr. V. Manivannan, a TC candidate at the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) was merely mentioned as present. In a long story detailed by Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole of the EC, the police charged only the priest, and when the EC complained, only Manivannan.’

 

(b) My experience with Mr Manivannan – Did not turn up to represent us in High Court of Jaffna. Mr Manivannan rang on the morning of the hearing and stated that the courts were not likely to  function due to lawyers’ strike. My husband and I said we would go in any case. That demonstrated  our Respect for the Judiciary. In the Appeal Court headed by Justice Manickavasagar Elancheleyan, Mr Parathalingam PC moved to have our appeal dismissed on the basis that we had demonstrated lack of seriousness. I stood up and said that I would represent our side and confirmed that I had prepared the original Appeal application. It was then that Justice Manickavasagar Elancheleyan seemed to have the courage to overrule Mr Parathalingam PC.

2. (a) as  per the above report – ‘Although Hoole was not a party, court papers showed he was and claimed he was served summons, but there is no record of it. The judge, Mr. A. Judeson, described by a lawyer present as unhinged, launched an attack on Hoole without verifying that he had been served notice. He ruled that Hoole as a Christian should never have charged a Hindu! He dismissed the charges in a small part of the morning. He faulted Hoole without giving him a hearing. And of course, he found no evidence to sustain the charge when there really was none on the offence he was charged with. Many lawyers see corruption written all over the case. Some say that a senior female TNPF lawyer from Uduvil/Chunnakam visited Judeson in his chambers just before the hearing and that may explain many things.’

(b) My experience – Our Affidavit in the Testamentary case was ‘dismissed’ by Judge Kajanithipalan who eventually facilitated Lawyer Mr Yogendra to present me as a money greedy woman to the family I was bound by law.  When I disciplined our lawyer and Mr Yogendra in the lawyer’s area  - Judge Kajanithipalan took it upon himself to punish me with the label that I was behaving like a street woman. In the transcript – it is stated that I had responded with strong anger when responding to a question that was asked while in the witness box. Obviously – a there was no space in the Courtroom where Truth presided over political status.

3. (a) as  per the above report – ‘The Mallakam Registrar denied Prof. Hoole the court transcript when he first heard of the judgment from press reports. The Registrar first  asked for a letter from a lawyer, and then after getting that asked for time to prepare the transcript while Mr. Kumaravadivel Guruparan, counsel for Manivannan, was waving the transcript at a press conference threatening action against Prof. Hoole. By the time Prof got the transcript, he says, it was too late to appeal.’

(b) My experience – After the decision by Justice Manickavasagar Elancheleyan to dismiss our appeal but changed the terms of  the original  petition – I rang Mr Manivannan to ask him to apply for the Certificates of Heirship – he said I had to go through Mr Kanagasingham who represented us in Mallakam Courts. When I went directly to Mallakam Courts  the Registrar was already collecting monies from the banks – as if he was the Administrator. The application was for NO Administration. This to my mind, meant that each heir would collect their own monies here in Sri Lanka. At the height of the discussion the Registrar said I had to move a motion through our lawyer Mr Manivannan to even handover a letter to the Courts!

4. (a) as  per the above report – ‘Interestingly, Mr. Guruparan is the Head of the Law Department at Jaffna University. Information obtained by Prof. Hoole through RTI shows that he has been given special permission by the University Council to practice law from the chambers of Ms. Abimanasingam, PC, despite his full-time university appointment. Yet he has appeared in many TNPF cases with Ms. Abimanasingam nowhere on record. His father is a Member of the University Grants Commission, which appoints the majority of Jaffna Council members who gave Guruparan permission to work for Ms. Abimanasingam while paid by the university. Prof. Hoole says the matter is being investigated by CIABOC.’ (Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption)

(b) My experience – Mr Manivannan who as a politician stated that he would give back his salary to the People – charged us at a rate much higher than that of the Colombo lawyers changing us for our Colombo matter. Despite us paying the fees he failed to complete his services as a lawyer.

These are just a few of the examples of my experiences in Northern Sri Lanka. But they confirm to me – that my investment in Education – including while living in a home down Martyn Road, Jaffna where also celebrations are reported to have taken place yesterday – have been seriously disrespected. Jaffna without education is bound to develop more militancy and the University of Jaffna is likely to be the Academy of  Militants.

Those who ‘celebrated’ are disrespectful of the dead. Shared pain leads to development of natural structures that lead to self-governance. Benefit providers  of the past are respected and elevated in status once their duty is done. Taking current benefits in their name is disrespectful and confirms weak investment in heritage / Traditions.

The global community is now considering sanctions against individuals who have acted unlawfully and immorally in the Sri Lankan Political crisis. Every member of the Diaspora has the duty to do likewise at their levels of power. THAT is the best way to honor the true hero who died to uphold self-governance.

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

27 November 2018

Maaveerar Naal / Great Heroes Day

Today is celebrated as the Great Heroes Day by a good proportion of Sri Lankan Tamils. To the extent it is in honour of those who fought and died for their belief in Separation all those who seek separation have a duty to honour those who died and suffered in the process. No law is above Truth. But if remembrance activities are towards current gain – then they are disrespectful of those who died for their belief. 27 November should really be a day of fasting so as to focus on the Truth. Tamil Guardian reports as follows in relation to how the Northern Judiciary have interpreted the issue:

[Responding to a Sri Lankan police petition, Jaffna Magistrate Court on Friday issued a ban on the use of what it described as the LTTE flags, symbols and maps at the planned Maaveerar Naal event in Koppay Thuyilum Illam. 

Earlier this week Koppay police applied for a ban of the remembrance event under section 120 of the penal code - inciting or seeking to incite hate - and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) regulations. 

Magistrate Sinnaththurai Satheestharan's ban specified the use of LTTE symbols was prohibited. No prohibition was made against the holding of the event however. 

Private land by the thuyilum illam, which is currently being occupied by the Sri Lankan military, was cleared and decorated by locals in preparation of Maaveerar Naal on November 27. ]

In the meantime, the Tamil Diaspora has released a song which celebrates the downfall of the Sirisena-Rajapaksa side due to Minority Tamil power in National Parliament and welcoming Wickremesinghe-Premadasa governance and claiming that UNP is being celebrated all over Sri Lanka. In essence, the whole of Tamil Community is celebrating in various forms. To my mind, this confirms also that pro-militant Tamils feel they are now even with the Rajapaksa-Sirisena group. They do not need a Judicial ruling on this. Those who follow the path of law – and are in the official system – need it. They are in the minority not only within the Tamil community but also within the Sinhalese community. The law helps educated civilians discuss the issue from various angles. The diversity is as per the ‘facts’ . The law is Common.

Also circulating within the Tamil Diaspora are recordings of the White-Flag incident in which dual citizen (Australian-Sri Lankan) Palitha Kohona was actively involved. Earlier this month SBS reported about a deportation as follows:

 ‘Adopted by a Queensland family at the age of six and later granted an Australian passport, Edward McHugh never thought he was anything but Australian.

But the 50-year-old, who was born in the Cook Islands, now faces deportation and being torn apart from his seven children, after the Australian government revoked his passport and told him he was in fact never a citizen……

But McHugh discovered that was not the case when he was informed earlier this year he was to be deported on character grounds under section 501 of the Immigration Act due to a criminal conviction.’

As per my understanding the above decision to deport was on the basis of character. This includes also the following criterion:

MIGRATION ACT 1958 - SECT 501

(6) Character Test - For the purposes of this section, a person does not pass the character test if

(ba)  the Minister reasonably suspects that the person has been or is involved in conduct constituting

(iii) [the crime of genocide, a crime against humanity, a war crime, a crime involving torture or slavery or a crime that is otherwise of serious international concern;]

Now that the war crimes issue has been recognized at UN level, it is the duty to the current minister during whose Administration Mr Edward McHugh was given deportation orders, to terminate the Australian citizenship of  Mr Palitha Kohona – especially considering that our Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s latest proposal to cancel the citizenship of those found guilty of Terrorism.

Decisions through Discretionary powers  – like in de facto relationships – need to be based on Truth of the decision maker. The same person who made the decision to deport Mr Edward McHugh would cancel the Australian citizenship of Mr Kohona on a more serious charge of war-crimes allegations. This is even more important now that the group from whom Mr Kohona took orders in 2009 during white-flag massacre has influenced the ouster of the lawfully appointed Prime Minister & Cabinet -  to occupy government positions.  

Truth never dies.  We need common laws to find the Truth as a common minded group. The law is therefore important to those who value Education. This obviously is the group opposed to the unlawful occupation by the above Sri Lankan group. All those who value education would value the law abiding group. In addition – those who value Truth and live within that Truth including through de facto relationships – add exponential value to have, to hold and to own the issue until they and the issue are One. Tat tvam Asi/Thou art that.

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

26 November 2018

Who Addresses the Root Cause?

In his Financial Times space, MTI CEO, Hilmy Cader has written  as follows:

Tracing how Parliament became a marketplace for buying MPs

[Every human action, barring insanity, has a reason behind it. Their reasons could be self-justified or driven by others. What we see in Parliament is only the manifestation. Therefore, instead of reacting to their manifest behaviour we need to get to the root cause. This requires a simple tool called a ‘Reverse Tree Diagram’, where you start with the ‘leaves’ you see and work your way to the root of the tree. You keep on asking ‘Why?’ – starting from the manifested behaviour you see – until you cannot answer ‘Why?’ anymore; and therein lies the root cause that must be addressed]

That sounded very like Lord Krishna’s explanation of the wish-fulfilling tree about which I wrote as follows on 31 December 2014:

[As Lord Krishna states in Bhaghawath Geetha – about Kalpagatharu – the wish-fulfilling tree – the roots are in heaven and the fruits are in earth – with the tree hanging upside down.  The fruits of the independence tree is the physical ‘freedom’. When enjoyed at a level higher than the independence felt at the root – such freedom leads to excessive authority being taken over those with apparently lesser status in the physical environment. This was the case with LTTE and is now the case with many sections of the Tamil as well as Sinhalese Diaspora. The  Common Sri Lankan, like the Grandparent without active status but strong feelings for family – continues to quietly maintain the root connection through the tiny spaces available in a society busy showing outcomes towards majority win.] - Strengthening the Root-Connection - http://austms.blogspot.com/2014/12/strengthening-root-connection.html

As Mr Cader whose name suggests that he is of Muslim culture – states,  the answers to the question ‘why?’ takes us to the next step towards the root. The root cause that we find however, is not that of the person/s manifesting the main outcome  - in this instance the dismissal of the Prime Minister and the appointment of another by the President. We discover our own root cause which in turn would provide us with a vision of the one we identify with most in the big-picture.

Being in the root-cause is peaceful. Living off the fruits takes us up and down. When we feel an issue we are in its roots.

As per the Economy Next report headed ‘Sri Lanka President says scrapped Chandrasena, Godahewa appointments’, for example:

[Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena said he had opposed the appointments of Kapila Chandrasena as Chairman to SriLankan Airlines and Nalaka Godahewa to Sri Lanka Insurance.
"The person at SriLankan had been removed," President Sirisena told Colombo based Foreign Correspondents Friday.
"We opposed the appointment as soon as it was done."]

I am connected to the roots of Sri Lankan Airlines / Airlanka and hence my question ‘why were they appointed so hastily by the new occupier of Government position’ led me to the root cause – that I identified with  immediately -  that such appointment was unlawful and confirmed attempts to cover up financial fraud that happened at the National carrier during the Rajapaksa regime. Then I ask the question as to why the President did not foresee such irregularity  and prevent such appointment? Airlanka at the roots communicates to me – the following satisfactory answer:  Mr Sirisena has been distracted by the fruits of  Premiership as quid pro quo for appointing Mr Rajapaksa temporarily to win general elections and then for the two to swap positions.

Those who FEEL Sri Lankan would identify with the Truth as to ‘why?’ by working through their own hurt feelings. Those who feel Sinhalese will identify with the Sinhalese and those who feel Tamils would identify with the Tamils. All such feelings merge as common ownership. I cried when I learnt about the dismissal and the de facto formation. I cried not because deep identity with Mr Wickremesighe but because I am firmly committed to the path of law for which reason I went to prison here in Australia. Then the root connection empowered other migrant staff at the University – who probably did not know me or about my actions. Their approach uprooted the Vice Chancellor who sent me to prison.

The more Sri Lankans ‘feel’,  the stronger the uprooting of undeserving leaders who have grabbed positions through the back door. This would be from the world of global minded Sri Lankans truly committed to law and order. When each feeling Sri Lankan identifies with her/his own root reason for the pain or pleasure in relation to this – we would naturally empower Sri Lanka to attain Nationhood.

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

26 November 2018

What About Tamils Mr Rajapaksa – Do we not count?

[In my speech in Parliament on the 15th of November, I proposed to all political parties that we agree among ourselves to hold a general election to enable the people to exercise their sovereign right to elect a government of their choice. The JVP agreed but the UNP has been evasively saying that we should hold a presidential election instead of a general election. The problem is in the Parliament. Hence there is no need to hold a presidential election at this stage. No party obtained a clear majority at the general election held in August 2015. The UNP obtained 106 seats, the UPFA obtained 96. The difference was just 10 seats] Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa

What about the TNA? It is obvious that Tamils do not count as a Diverse group to Mr Rajapaksa.  There was a time when Mr Rajapaksa was known to have consulted his astrologer about election timing. If that was belief based – he would reveal that as the base now also. Otherwise one is entitled to conclude that it was superstitious. This is further confirmed by Mr Rajapaksa as follows:

[A UNP led government was formed only on the basis of an agreement entered into with a group of UPFA Parliamentarians. The UPFA group left the government on the 26th October. Thereafter several UNP Parliamentarians joined our ranks. Today, I am the leader of the largest group of MPs in Parliament.]

Mr P.K. Balachandran states as follows in his Daily Mirror article ‘Pros and cons of Crossovers’:

[In the 2010 elections to Parliament, the UPFA under President Mahinda Rajapaksa won 144 seats. Even though the Rajapaksa Government was blessed with an overwhelming majority, it encouraged crossovers from the Opposition with the distribution of Ministerial posts to give Rajapaksa an aura of great power and invincibility.]

Changing Political affiliation is like changing one’s religion. Most of us accept the ‘One god, many religions’ theory. In governance, the parallel is ‘one governance, many political parties’. The above pattern of changing religions/political crossovers – confirms superstition. Elected Members of Parliament who crossover, confirm superstition and therefore lack of governance power shared with their voters. Leaders who encourage crossovers also confirm superstition and/or that they are driven more by showing that they are smart than that they are good governors.

Mr Rajapaksa himself has crossed over to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna recently. By doing so confirmed that he ‘uses’ and then throws away political structures. By appointing such a person as Prime Minister, Mr Sirisena also confirms superstition rather than belief.  One who believes would take the ancestral values with her/him. They say in Tamil that one is affectionate of his parents who provide him with pleasures. Once he gets married – the wife becomes the source of those pleasures and more. Then the parents become the source of Respect. Likewise, within marriage the spouse becomes respectable when s/he helps elevate pleasures to happiness  level by development of commonness.

The leaders of a political party who forego towards commonness – become respectable. Those who crossover confirm that they are driven by pleasures and not Respectability.

The February 2018 Local Government Elections went against Mr Sirisena’s part of SLFP. He seems to be panicking and hence the blame game and dismissal. Mr Rajapaksa failed to successfully move Parliament to confirm No Confidence Motion in Mr Wickremesinghe. By rejecting early Presidential elections – he confirms also that his eye is on the position of President. That alone morally disqualifies him and Mr Sirisena for that position. Governance outcomes need to ‘happen’ for them to successfully lead the nation. This is outright manipulation – to enjoy pleasures. Little wonder they massacred Tamils to ‘show’ victory in return for votes. That was immoral. One does not need a war-crimes inquiry now that one has been shown immorality by the very leaders (including Mr Sirisena) who claimed victory by killing their own citizens.

The killing of Tamils outside the war area and the resulting suffering – will keep dragging these leaders to lower and lower levels. It’s a heavy sin carried by such leaders. Mr Sirisena sought the support of Tamils but refused to hold a war-crimes inquiry. The sin grows exponentially causing decay within. That is the power of  the true Sri Lankan who is ignored and/or treated as demoted junior rather than Equal minority.

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

26 November 2018

Sri Lankan President fails the Buddhism Foremost test

["Even if the UNP has the majority, I told them not to bring Ranil Wickremesinghe before me, I will not make him prime minister ... not in my lifetime," Sirisena said, referring to talks with members of the deposed leader's United National Party.] - aljazeera.com

Democratically elected leaders have the duty to share their Belief based learning with their citizens – in the language of the citizen. So let’s see what that lesson seems to be. The following confirms the lesson:

["He is corrupt. His economic policies are not good for local industries. He pursued an extremely liberal form of government that is not compatible with our culture."]

The ‘corruption’ allegations are explained not through ‘facts’ but on the basis of projections. Projections are like Budgets / Thoughts. They could be based on Truth or they could be based on hearsay.

I believe that Lord Buddha attained Nirvana by foregoing lower level pleasures which then elevates one’s mind to the formless state. We are all capable of attaining this state. Those who enjoy pleasures as per their physical abilities – need to stay within that which is truly theirs - to coexist – as animals do with their own respective species. They live and love at the physical level and die. Those who ‘take’ pleasures out of opportunities shared by others accelerate their ability to enjoy and therefore burn out.

The President with executive powers has the DUTY to take Administrative action against the Prime Minister by passing his complaints through Due Processes. One who fails to do so is unfit for executive powers.

As a Governor, a leader shares her/his goodness confidentially including through termination of the relationship so the weaker person does not abuse the powers of the stronger person. I did just that with someone Northern Sri Lanka junior in position to me ‘told’ me how to structure our work in a project in his ‘home area’ where he had majority support. That support was largely at physical level through quid pro quos. Mine was more or less power of one. The service value of my work – confirmed my governance power but when distracted by his own environment – the junior could not keep his mind within his earned position. Hence he started ‘telling me’ – the way majority power is often abused by not only Sri Lankan leaders but also Australian leaders lacking in Governance power. I informed him that his conduct was inappropriate and then I distanced myself from him and asked him to handover his active responsibilities to a person from Colombo. The governance power he had earned was his forever. By taking away the administrative powers – that he had not earned despite the opportunities to do so – I prevented reverse administration by use of majority power. I did so on behalf of my group on caste basis to neutralize the majority power taken on the basis of his caste. I was able to so diffuse – due to my governance power which helped me pick the coming risks intuitively. Later I did hear about such a risk between the youth on the day of Karthigai Theepam. I turned off the tap of excessive status assumed by the junior caste guy due to my partnership.

If therefore Mr Sirisena who is the senior by position in this relationship, had had powers of governance he would have picked up any weaknesses in Mr Wickremesinghe and distanced himself, as I did.  But then if that is true – he would have resigned from the cabinet position he held during Mr Rajapaksa’s regime. One is entitled to conclude that Mr Sirisena did not have such intuitive power of governance in Finances or Mr Rajapaksa did not have the weaknesses in Financial Management that have been exposed since 2015.  

Mr Sirisena has confirmed yet again that he is guilty of breaching Article 9 of the Constitution that requires him to escalate his thinking to the higher level towards Governance level.