Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

13 December 2018

Victory for Parliament of Belief

The good news came through an Australian of Sri Lankan-Sinhalese origin, who was the first to  respond to my yesterday’s article ‘Parliament of Belief’.  That was belief based sharing and it would be right for both of us. I wrote back stating ‘Great news for Tamils also’.

Why is Ranil Wickremesinghe better for us Tamils than Mahinda Rajapaksa? The reason is the identity with the higher status of law and therefore higher education that Northern Tamils have strongly invested in. It is that heritage that renders the Tamil Community belief in itself to be of world standards. Belief alone could sustain us as a community provided we did not seek external relations. Due to the war, a good proportion of Tamils have become citizens of other nations also. To the extent they believe in their relatives and community in Sri Lanka and to the extent they invest in law based self-governance in their new nations – the belief based sharing is continuous. That is the Global Parliament of Belief.

When a group is experiencing pain due to damage to their Belief – it confirms damage to Fundamental Rights. The Belief of the voter, actively relating to Local Government in her / his area – would look different to the Belief of the voter actively relating to National as well as  Global Governance that Sri Lanka has the duty to contribute to.  

Mr Sirisena at best relates through Provincial level Belief.  Mr Sirisena  won the position of Presidency through promises especially to Tamils, of abolishing the Executive Presidency due to which Tamils suffered more than any other community in Sri Lanka. Had Mr Sirisena stayed within his area of belief – he would have not invoked Sooniyam (Tamil) / Black Magic / the Dark side of Sri Siddha Suniyam Deviyo (Sinhalese) on himself.  

Votes are like cash and belief is the Feeling of Common ownership. From time to time – Mr Sirisena stated that he was doing what he did – for his beloved country. The LTTE also stated that they were the sole representatives of Tamils of Sri Lanka. Mr CV Wigneswaran stated in his recent Australian interview - that his group would present the unanimous mind of the Tamil people. But then he was critical of the EPDP (Tamil) group which he claimed was driven by money. That shows that the ‘unanimous’ claim was not one based on belief but wishful thinking – a different version of  ‘Sole Representatives’ claim by the LTTE. As the Armed Forces of  Tamils – the LTTE had the DUTY to prevent the rape of Tamil school girls by the Armed Government Forces. It was disrespectful of them to hijack the outcome and blame it fully on the Armed Soldiers. This excess of military force also contributed to the 1983 riots in Colombo Sri Lanka. It was excessive to the extent they did not take responsibility for their failure to protect the young ones.

But the problem in Colombo was due to President J R Jayawardene who, like Mr Sirisena overrode Prime Minister Premadasa’s  decision to follow normal procedure and send the bodies to the villages of the slain soldiers. This resulted in damage to Tamils to whom Colombo was ‘home’. The first attacks were around Mr Jayawardene’s home area.

The Land that we believe in does not know the difference between believers on the basis of their race or religion. One has to use or bypass such external subjective aspects to ‘believe’. Where one is strongly driven by apparent subjective powers – one confirms that s/he is not a believer. When we believe, the land and we are one.  Hence the decision by the then President purely for political purposes manifested as damage to Tamil properties during his rule – starting with his home area – where Nagalingam (Tamil name)  Stores was the first victim. President Jayawardene wanted to ‘show’ through those who were not usually part of his natural environment. Prime Minister Premadasa had that intuitive connection with the ordinary Sinhalese but by position he was junior to Mr Jayawardene. Likewise Mr Wickremesinghe in terms of global issues, due to his higher level education.

But this time, the Tamil Parliamentarians have confirmed through their active support to Mr Wickremesinghe that the Tamil community’s investment in Governance has also been raised to the global level. Australian media is actively publishing the outcomes of yesterday’s votes.

Manifestations of belief would often be based on hardship for the person and/or group. Yesterday’s victory in National Parliament – confirmed that the 2015 Tamil votes during Presidential elections were by purpose for Mr Wickremesinghe and not for Mr  Sirisena. Hence it’s victory for Tamils who seek to be globally connected.