Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam
17 August 2019
TOURISM
vs SECURITY
Yesterday at the hotel, my bag was checked by a lady
security officer from the Prime Minister’s team. I
was satisfied that my complaint had been heard by whoever was responsible. My
complaint was that the previous night my bag was checked by a male officer.
After me was a family – and the lady said words to the effect ‘there is …. and some
vibhoothi’ (holy powder). The accent said that they were Malaysian Tamils. The
dynamics were different. The security officer seemed more official with them
whereas with me the lady officer was
friendly in her attitude.
This
morning I read the article ‘Diaspora not spared in Sri Lanka’ published by
Lankanewsweb.net. The following excerpt is of interest to me:
[Journalist
from Norway arrested
The latest
victim is a journalist from Norway, Mr Nadaraja Sethuruban. He attends the UN
Human Rights Council in Geneva and reports news concerning Sri Lanka to media
in Norway and other countries. He visited Sri Lanka on 17th July to have his
daughters ‘age attainment’ (puberty) ceremony in Jaffna. Unfortunately he was
arrested on 3rd August by the Police in Point Pedro on a fabricated accusation
and produced in a Court in Killinochi. He was remanded in the Jaffna prison and
released on bail on 6th August.]
All
those who take part in UN proceedings without strong institutional backing and
speak out against a government that is accused of extra-judicial actions
against citizens – need to expect such returns. I myself was so arrested in
Australia for peaceful assembly against Central Administrators of the University
of NSW. One who is deeply affected will
have the courage to face any injustice and establish the way of
Dharma/Righteousness. So I do from time to time expect government officers to
be hostile towards me. Unlike in Australia, here in Sri Lanka I am able to
quietly communicate with most of them – for most at individual level do
identify with me. In Australia only a few do. But in Australia more follow the law
than do Sri Lankans.
As
per the above article - Mr Nadaraja Sethuruban came to
Jaffna to celebrate the puberty ceremony of his daughter. One of the false
avenues through which members of the Tamil Diaspora ‘show off’ their wealth is this
puberty ceremony. The origin as per my understanding was to announce to the
wider world that there was a young lady eligible for marriage. If Mr Nadaraja
Sethuruban felt the need to so celebrate today – then one is entitled to
conclude that his daughter is being groomed to live as a homebound home-maker
for which he would need to give her a dowry. The introduction below to my book ‘Jaffna
is my heritage and NOT dowry’ includes
the note that as per Thesavalamai Customs of Jaffna Tamils Dowry does not
include any liability but heritage does.
Those who continue to indiscriminately mix the
money-making and home-making roles confirm lack of blessings from our ancestors
in Northern Sri Lanka. I write practically every day and I am not backed by any
group power. I rely on the universal power of truth. If I am genuine in serving
Jaffna and Sri Lanka – the land looks after me. The first step is to position
ourselves vis-à-vis the other party – as junior, senior
or equal. So long as such positioning is true as per our conscience – it is the
duty of the system of truth to deliver. One who goes to UN about unlawful
conduct of Sri Lankan soldiers if s/he is genuine – would be a ‘foreigner’ if
s/he is celebrating at family and community levels.
It is when we share in the pain of other Sri Lankans
– that we are morally entitled to question those who seem to have caused that
pain – as internals. The families of Sinhala soldiers who died in combat are
entitled to the same honor as families of Tamil combatants who were in a
disciplined armed group such as the LTTE.
The Island editorial headed ‘Drinking tea with
suspects’ states as follows:
[The
yahapalana leaders, came to power promising, among other things, legal action
against those who they said had bribed the LTTE to engineer the 2005 polls boycott,
but nobody has been sent to jail for that. President Maithripala Sirisena has
started drinking tea with the Rajapaksas!]
That debt of honor created by the LTTE – became part
of my group’s inheritance of Jaffna. If we settle the debt – through contributions
to good governance during the period Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe – the victim of
the 2005 coup – is in power – we clean Northern Sri Lanka and save it from sins
that unsettled debts become. The fact that I happened to be here at North Gate
by Jetwing hotel – when the PM was here – not once but twice – confirms that
Jaffna is now free of that debt. We are now equals and so long as Mr
Wickremesinghe is genuine about Jaffna – Jaffna will return his investment
exponentially – including through Diaspora that is free of debt to Jaffna.
Tourism is important to Jaffna where many
self-employed workers – starting with tuk-tuk drivers to hotels by Jetwing
group are affected through violence including in Colombo. Orderly conduct by
every citizen and visitor would make this a sustainable activity. Whether the
Diaspora come as tourists or contributors – they need to ensure that they
conduct themselves accordingly. Yesterday I noticed a couple of young scout
guys in uniform chatting when the priest was chanting. After the main
procession moved on from the spot – I walked up to the boys and said that they
were in uniform and it was unbecoming of them to ‘chat’ when the priest was
chanting. I said we needed to respect others’ work for us to develop our own employment
opportunities. The boys nodded and I felt they had understood. They would if
they considered me as a ‘senior’. I was satisfied by their response. The
discipline that LTTE instilled does live through genuine workers.
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