Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

11 December 2018

Show of Superiority complex

I heard a Sinhalese say it at the Sri Lanka Reconciliation Forum, Sydney. I read it again today in the Financial Times article  ‘Sri Lanka’s number one problem’

[During the ethnic unrest in 1983 and the height of separatist war in 2009, some would have emigrated in search of safety. But by and large most people emigrate in search of better jobs, better income, better luxuries of life, better healthcare, better education for children, better caring during retirement, etc. Hardly anyone left the country in search of a better political system. ]

I believe that we see ourselves through others when at least one is honest with her/himself. If the author of the above article is Tamil then – s/he does not care about Tamils. That is ok – so long as s/he does not use our pain as her/his opportunity. If the above author is non-Tamil – then s/he is seriously guilty of racial discrimination for taking superior status to declare on our behalf. The above author is certainly not Sri Lankan.

Financial and status outcomes confirm our core values. Unless our costs – the total of - money, time and sense of commitment are returned at least to break even – we have the duty as human beings to (1) take our position at levels higher  than those allocated to us by the custodians of power and equal to them and do so non-violently; (2) identify with our deeper ownership than the custodians of power and influence manifestations through the power of belief and prayer (3) and/or move away from that place – taking only the Truth of our experience with us.

As part of the five basic elements, Earth carries ownership energy. It is for this reason that practitioners of Yoga tend to sit at the same place during meditation. Likewise time and hence anniversaries. During 1983 riots and 2009 war, the homes of thousands of Tamils were damaged by hooligans – who seriously disrespected the law of the nation and the laws of humanity. Every civilian who genuinely suffered but did not retaliate – left a curse there for the attackers and ownership blessings for themselves and their heirs. Whatever they found in the new nations belong to those nations and cannot be directly related to the pain and loss suffered    in the land called Sri Lanka. Each nation needs to be self-balancing. I emigrated in 1982 but I did suffer in 1977 when I was pregnant with my third child. Colombo is still home to me because I did not retaliate even in thought. I felt sorry for myself but gradually got over it. Now I feel sad. That is our resilience, which core value we bring with us to our new nations.

Here in Australia also I suffered due to my loyalty to my Sri Lankan education. But I did not take revenge. I shared my pain and loss through my book ‘Naan’ Australian and did so after I could not stand the discrimination and therefore insult to my origin any more.  Despite all that, we as a family, do enjoy relatively parallel status here in Australia – as we did in Sri Lanka. The gap is filled by us through (1) above - take our position at levels higher  than those allocated to us by the custodians of power and equal to them and do so non-violently.

That is called ‘user pays’ facility in Public Service. The status is equalized with the Service Provider who cannot tell us. For structural purposes – we keep it at Equal level and no more. I do that all the time with those who ‘tell’ me to take them off my email list. If they do not know how to use the ‘block sender’ facility – they are indeed my very young juniors in email facility. So, I Practice Gandhi’s non-violent non-cooperation. If I use the email facility for personal or commercial benefits - then I have the duty to unsubscribe them. If I did not follow these laws of Dharma – then the internet would not respond to me when I need information.

The author and her/his community has much to learn about Democracy, leave alone Human Rights.