Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

20 October  2019

SRI LANKA WAS NOT TERRA NULLIUS WHEN VIJAYA ARRIVED

The Government of Australia is made up of many aspects of governance. Immigration is one of them. Immigration needs to be independent of Armed forces.

The natural common makeup of Sri Lanka as well as Australia is that both are island nations. Given that in both nations – the heirs of those who arrived by boat are the rulers, this lineage requires them to value boat arrivals as their distant relatives and not as aliens. The relationship is like that of Brahmin Hindu to Modern Hindu.  To rank boat arrivals as the least eligible is to disrespect one’s own ancestry. Both nations would have their / our fair share of convict genes. I am not a Brahmin but whenever I pray through a Hindu form I believe in – my prayers are answered as per my motive. Brahmins tend to be more ritualistic and therefore need a controlled environment – including obedience from juniors – to focus on the ultimate goal. Likewise I am not in Government through official portfolio – but I find governance solutions whenever I deeply respect  those before me – for example Gandhi.

As per Island report headed ‘Defence Secy commends Australian assistance’ one gets the impression that Sri Lanka is senior to Australia in terms of law and order. Otherwise Sri Lankan officer representing the Sri Lankan government has no authority to ‘commend’ an Australian officer. One may publish an independent review of published outcomes but not directly praise or criticize a foreign agency / government.  The junior’s duty is to submit. In a ‘free’ environment – the Australian officers desiring praise may end up submitting.

Australia’s governance system is far more orderly than Sri Lanka’s. To my mind it is less subjective due to globalization through immigration. The Sri Lankan parallels of current boat arrivals in Sri Lanka are the Indian Tamils who arrive by boat – now to Northern shores. Until recently – they were referred to as Kallathoni’s (cheating boats) by mainstream Sinhalese. The way Ms Pauline Hanson asked migrants to go back if we migrants  cannot assimilate, there are Sinhalese leaders who ask Tamils and Muslims to go back. They choose to take senior positions amongst migrants as if indigenous population is part of the land they walk on.

On 18 October – ‘the Sunday Morning’ published the following report:

[Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva today released 150.15 acres of land in Kilinochchi belonging to the State and private owners.

The Army said the release was done in line with the Presidential Secretariat’s policy of releasing military acquired land in the North and East.

According to the Army the release of the mentioned land has not compromised national security interests.]

We do not know when the Army actually ‘occupied’ these areas. The latest would have been 2009 when the government claimed to have eliminated the LTTE. Given that the government claimed ‘victory’ it was a ‘foreign’ force and the occupation was as if the military now ‘owned’ those lands. This explains why it took 10 years to return the land to its lawful  owners – including the civil part of Sri Lankan government – as the trustee of the Public. That alone confirms the deeper intent of the Sri Lankan government suffering fears due to its own desires.

I fought against such intimidation at the workplace where ‘obedience’ was expected by seniors – including the most educated ones. While I was ready to be regulated  by seniors as per workplace culture  – I refused to ‘obey’ seniors because they occupied senior positions. The same rule would be formulated differently at different workplaces. Likewise in communities.

In the recent arrests of Tamils including politicians in Malaysia – the claim was made that they were LTTE supporters. This means that to the Malaysian government, LTTE was not eliminated as a global force. Yet that government did not dispute the claims of war-victory by the Sri Lankan Government. Hence in their minds – LTTE is still alive as the other side of their desire.

In her 2014  article headed ‘Are Wahhabis on Warpath against Moderate Muslim Sufis in Sri Lanka’ Ms Shenali Waduge – a popular journalist in Sri Lanka, wrote as follows:

[Wahhabis are against music, dance and social mixing of sexes, they oppose display of images – humans or animal, praying at graves and assigning divinity to the Prophet, or celebrating his birthday or praying to him. They don’t like cricket either evident by those that attacked Sri Lanka’s cricketers in Pakistan. This is what Wahhabis stand for. How many Muslims in Sri Lanka follow this or adhere to this? Prior to Wahhabis entering Sri Lanka in mid 1970s, the Muslims of Kattankudy were praying at graves, seeking favours from God through prayer, singing songs in praise of God, organizing festivals, distributing food for Prophets birthday and using flowers in prayer. These were all customs that came through Tamil/Indian customs and rituals as the earliest Muslims arrived from India.]

The above could be said also about Sinhalese before arrival of Buddhism . The Buddhist monks in Politics are the heirs of those Sinhalese and not of Buddha who renounced ruling power. I identify with Ms Waduge’s discovery about Wahhabi influence. But the question is why is Ms Waduge not recognising that about her own religious group? The response to this is crucial in Sri Lanka becoming a global village of multicultural migrants – especially now that International airports in North and East are being promoted by the current government.  

Being obedient to those who tempt us with desires – leads to living in fear. Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa recently made the promise of releasing soldiers currently in custody, if he became president. Yesterday’s government is today’s government’s genes. Changing those genes needs to be through two thirds majority due to the truth in it. As per philosophy of rebirth – we take into our next birth only our truth from this life. Facing the unpleasant truth is therefore far more valuable than taking the high status that we were right – as marked by others and not by our truth.

If the armed forces who have been imprisoned – were not guilty then the Judiciary needs to certify them. If Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as President is promising  to do so – this leads me to the conclusion that he is anti-Buddha which is in breach of Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution.

The LTTE recruited child-soldiers – so they would ‘obey’. My bitter experience at the University of NSW was strongly influenced by this kind of expectations by American returns (like Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa) who must carry some of the genes of American Academics like Henry Murray who used  juniors including Ted Kaczynski who came to be known as UNABOMBER (targeting Universities and Airlines). Those who are clever need to limit their shows of cleverness to the position they hold in a particular environment. The rest needs to be for Service. Otherwise they risk following those who make guineapigs of them. That is the way of Dharma.

LTTE leader Prabhakaran was clever. By accepting funds from Indian political leader – MGR – Prabhakran was disloyal to the guerrilla movement which works well in its own natural environment. To the extent LTTE was funded genuinely by Sri Lankan Tamils and/or Tamils without relevant official portfolio, it was valid and positive. But MGR qualified as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu – the parent state of all Tamils. He was being a traitor to Politics by funding guerrilla group and his donations carried those genes – eventually to kill Sri Lankan Politicians including Tamil politicians followed by Indian leader Rajiv Gandhi who represented National and Regional Leadership. This brought shame to Tamil Nadu security forces who were responsible for protecting politicians who are in Tamil Nadu.

Unlike Ted Kaczynski – I opposed and rejected leaders who demonstrated expectations of obedience which eventually was expressed strongly at University of NSW – where discovering  and publishing Truth was core purpose and where the Administrative order was weak – as Dr Wickremabahu Karunaratne also highlighted recently through the Nizamdeen case.

When I learnt about Ted Kaczynski – especially in relation to the his role as guinea pig in the  experiment by Henry Murray – I recalled how anxious I felt when Dr Charles Hayes of Caritas threatened me with enforced medication for alleged mental illness. Like Ted Kaczynski , I preferred to go back to prison and to starve/fast  – than to be artificially structured to be obedient. While in prison I learnt about such suppression and published it– including through Sri Lanka Guardian as follows:

[Later when I went back to prison after the Caritas experience, I realized the real reason why? The following day which was Mother’s day 2005, I shared the prison cell with Florence who read the Bible every day. Florence confirmed that she was enforced with medication while in prison and this helped me get myself released from prison and help Florence release herself from prison. Until that experience, Florence was refused approval by the authorities to come out of prison, even though she had been there for many years for what seems like a trivial reason – such as attacking the Police who gave her orders to get rid of her poultry. Florence identified with me and hence was able to naturally follow in my path. My husband and I picked her up from prison and kept her with us before she joined her daughter. I was able to provide this service to a fellow Australian, because of our common faith in Our Lady which did not happen with the Caritas doctors nor with the University of New South Wales.] Caritas vs Buddhist Government

This I believe is why Lord Buddha gave us the simple message ‘Aasai Aramin’ / ‘Renounce Desire’.

If the Sri Lankan army did not desire the benefits and opportunities ‘made by civilians’ Australia’s immigration problems will  naturally become opportunities in relation to migrants from Sri Lanka. But the mantra needs to be used with belief in our ancestors and not by praising ‘foreigners’ or by succumbing to praise by foreigners.