Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

05 May  2019

Brainwashing Voters

As per the latest news Chundikuli Girls' College in Jaffna has received a threatening letter,  under the name of an Islamic organization. On the face of it – that letter is of hearsay value. The school administration is reported to have complained to the police – which I believe is the right thing to do.

It was however disappointing to read the communication published by the  Student Union, Faculty of Arts and Culture -  Eastern University Sri Lanka which had the following footnote also:

[Student Union of  Jaffna University condemned arrests of two of its office bearers & a minor staff over recovering LTTE related material inside university premises; Union alleged that military launched a hunt down of university students in the name of tackling ISIS threats.]

The Memo which is in Tamil refers to National Head of Tamil Eelam / Thamil Eela Thesiya Thalaivar.  Former minister in Northern Provincial Government Ananthi Sasitharan also referred to Thesiya Thalaivar when speaking to the media about the recent arrest of the two students and one staff of the University of Jaffna.  Dr Hoole also  reports as follows:

[Former NP Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran jumped into the fray capitalizing on the plight of the two student union leaders. He faulted the TNA for not opposing the Emergency Regulations. He also accused the TNA of asking the army to not leave Jaffna. 

In response, the TNA today, 3 May, issued a statement in Tamil explaining that even without the regulations the two students would have been charged under the other three laws. It further said that, yes, they did not oppose the Emergency Regulations but have opposed the draconian laws passed subsequently under those regulations which have been used to charge the union leaders. The statement also denies that the TNA ever asked the army not to leave Jaffna and that the only person who so asked is Ananthi Sasitharan, former TNA Provincial Minister, the widow of disappeared Sea Tiger Elilan and the LTTE’s Trinco Head, and, importantly, an ally of Mr. Wigneswaran’s who is seen by the TNA as trying to wreck it. ] Colombo Telegraph article ‘The Bombings, Refugees & Emergency Regulations: The Dangers Of A Military Dictatorship

LTTE is a proscribed group in Sri Lanka and it would be unlawful to refer to the LTTE leader as the leader any group. Mrs Vijayakala got into trouble for invoking that leadership. Whether the government takes action against Mrs Sasitharan or not – a lay interpretation would confirm that there are just grounds on which they can. The need of Tamils is to keep such admiration – formless and not give form. One who refers to LTTE leader as the National leader has no moral authority to take any official position in the lawful structure of Sri Lanka – including to find fault with them.

An independent scientific  scrutiny would confirm the current requirement to discipline the minds of those to whom the LTTE leader is National Leader of Eelam – the Tamil parallel of Islamic State. When there are no concrete boundaries – the leadership is in the mind – like formless god.

It is for these reasons that large institutions Restructure their systems from time to time.  At personal level also we need to consciously restructure ourselves so that we have more reliable mind structures through which we protect our work values.

Did we the people of Jaffna restructure ourselves in 1977 when we became the leading Opposition in National Parliament of Sri Lanka? Likewise in 2015?  They are both political milestones  reached in our path to self governance. Did we restructure at the end of the war in 2009? Since the LTTE with form died in 2009, the contribution to Tamil Eelam state by all concerned needs to be raised on the basis of our energy.  The former LTTE cadre who have promised to cooperate with the government would be empowered by such Energy.

Universities concerned for their part – need to find the Truth of why the war happened – based on their own experiences and the Truth that our ancestors discovered and left for us to be supported by. One who pays their respects to leaders of armed rebellion   - do not have the moral right to take benefits from the intellectual and political pathways. Mrs Sasitharan would be more productive by sharing the truth she knows about the minds of suicide bombers.

The Easter Sunday bomber who led the attacks in Sri Lanka is reported to have been in trouble with law enforcement authorities. This could have led to him losing hope of becoming a leader through the intellectual pathway. His attachment to his contribution to education is likely to have led him to find a group where he would have high status. I know that feeling through my own experiences after I was unlawfully charged for peaceful assembly decorated as ‘Trespass’, here in Australia. Thereafter I did not want to get back into the unreliable mainstream and this helped me become a full time ‘service’ person. The leader of the group that undertook the Easter Sunday bombings is likely to have become a clergy for that reason. Many retirees known to me join religious service groups after retirement. But the ‘attachment’ to our previous investment in other pathways can lead us to take revenge if we do not complete the old experience by absorbing the pain which then lifts our thinking to the intellectual level and/or to energy level.

The death and resurrection of Jesus – is about that absorption of pain at the physical level and rising to eternal world of energy. To my mind – that is the Kingdom of God.  The response from Mevan Pieris confirms this: ‘God Bless Mother Lanka and may the Easter day martyrs be canonized’

Mrs Sasitharan’s attitude reminds me of my sister in law who stepped into her dead-mother’s shoes eve after she became a mother. My sister in law did not step into those shoes to take responsibility but became the ‘sole’ parent with those of her siblings who seem to be successful.  Since the LTTE leader was never a politician – and was responsible for killing politicians – Mrs Sasitharan and any other person in politics and/or law has the duty to first renounce all titles from those alternate pathways before claiming leadership authority as the heirs of the LTTE. If at a later time – these students become suicide bombers those politicians would be responsible in the Court of Natural Justice.

Brainwashing happens when we lower the minds of others without proper structures and due processes and often by assuming that we are the sole-leaders.  In Tamil Nation – everyone who realised self-governance as a Tamil and/or is sharing such independence with Tamils is a leader. LTTE heirs have the duty to keep their respects formless because the LTTE is proscribed. Otherwise they need to resign from their lawful positions and stay away from those who are seeking to succeed through the lawful pathways. Universities are lawful pathways to self-governance. They have the right to research and publish the Truth they have discovered through the academic pathway – very like my own contribution.  They have no right to follow in the militant pathway while within the University that is funded by the Common Public. Some Tamil lawyers were also heard finding fault with the armed forces but there was no mention of disciplining the students. They need to renounce their lawful status as per Sri Lankan system before following in the path of truth  - as Gandhi did. But what is their truth is the million dollar question.

Brainwashing is a strong component of the development of suicide bombers by their leaders. Politicians who brainwash voters need to be consciously rejected by voters and towards this – the intellectuals need to research and publish their own discoveries.  That would then become the basis of our own structures that would lead us to self-determination and self-governance.