Gajalakshmi
Paramasivam
06
December 2019
CYPRUS
& SRI LANKA
A young Australian Tamil mother who is now a
homemaker shared her pain with me – in relation to her mother in law’s
interference. In turn I shared my own
experience with my sisters in law (of Vaddukoddai) and said ‘look at it this
way. Had I not escalated the problem to court level – they would have been
nobodies. Both sisters who usually took backseats in family – came to court in
their own rights in relation to the Testamentary case. Their husbands took
backseats. Northern Sri Lankan Tamils have two major factors through which
discrimination happens. Gender and Caste. They both happened due to ‘using’ the
common system of Thesawalamai at skin level - to derive immediate benefits. The
suppressed group would have positive Energy to work the whole – only when it
stays within that structure. When it takes revenge it rewards itself and thus
misses the opportunity to consolidate with other victims in differently
structured systems. When a problem is escalated – it facilitates such a merger.
Recently one of my fans said that her father had
read my book ‘Jaffna is my Heritage ; not Dowry’ over two consecutive days. To
me, that was due to this kind of merger. That is how true nationalism is
developed. A good proportion of Diaspora
Tamils recognize Tamil Nationalism through the manifesto of LTTE which relied
heavily on armed power. Armed power is Democratic only when it is limited to
Defend one’s own Sovereign Territory. Anything in excess leads to autocracy and
dictatorship. If Tamil Nationalism is to spread laterally – one needs to be
Democratic.
The recent alleged inclusion of Tamil Nationalism in
the UK Conservatives’ manifesto has been responded to as follows:
[Conservative
party Deputy Chair Paul Scully has in his twitter message of 3 December 2019
once again reiterated the above position of the Conservative party, stating the
following:
‘There
is no Conservative manifesto commitment relating to the makeup of governance of
Sri Lanka. … two state relate only to Middle East.’] The Island
The Sri Lankan Opposition’s stand has been
published as follows:
[“Conservative party should understand that
Sri Lanka was one of the few countries which backed the UK in its war against
Argentina in the 1980s. Therefore we request the Conservative Party to remove
the pledge to work on a two-state solution in Sri Lanka,” Mr. Dissanayake said.]
My
article headed ‘The Global Tamil & Mr Boris Johnson’
was written on 15 July 2019 and it included special
reference to Mr Navin Dissanayake. (Appendix). I highlight the following parts that confirm
my true contribution to common nationalism:
1.
[Let
us take for example the following example of a Tamil leader Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan
who is the closest Tamil parallel of Mr Johnson I can think of right now and
who is reported to have been described by the first democratically elected
Prime Minister of Ceylon / Sri Lanka and the founder of Mr Navin
Dissanayake’s political party – the Hon D S Senanayake as
"the greatest Ceylonese of all times". ]
2. [If
Mr Johnson does merge his ancestries – then he would contribute strongly to
merger of Islamic and Christian cultures]
I
expressed my truth through the form of Mr Johnson. Hence I identify with the
two nation solution as a wakeup call to the respective Governments that are
taking ‘senior’ role over a group with whom they do not have ‘Common Belief’.
This was clearly expressed recently in relation to Muslims & Tamils – by the
new President of Sri Lanka. The way of – the system of Truth – Dharma - is to manifest the return as comfort to the
person/group genuinely hurt by such expressions. Tamil and Islamic Nationalists
would react in excitement. Common Sri Lankans would be hurt. As I keep stating
to Australian Tamils and Jaffna Tamils – where there is truth / love – there is
relativity on the way to two or more - becoming One. Without truth we are
merely associates. Part of the reason for lack of relationship is reliance on ‘outcomes’
to ‘show’ victory without passing through common principles and structures.
To
my mind, Mr Johnson as leader of Conservatives stands for Commonness. I
identify with the following words of wisdom by the Hon Quintin Hogg – British Barrister and
Conservative Politician :
[
Conservatism is not so much a philosophy as an attitude, a
constant force, performing a timeless function in the development of a free
society, and corresponding to a deep and permanent requirement of human nature
itself.]
I therefore interpret the Conservative Party’s
manifesto in regards to Cyprus and Sri Lanka as well as the Middle East – as a
commitment to development of Free society – as individuals and/or in groups of
common belief. In fact that is the essence of the current Sri Lankan government’s
unstated policy – requiring Tamils and Muslims to form their own natural
governance.
The UNP which did not object to it but was
busy with its own ‘internal’ squabbles and joined that bandwagon of
Sinhala-Buddhism and hence protested. The way I escalated my family problem to
Court level – Diaspora Tamils have escalated the Community’s problem
successfully to global level. This naturally weakens the urge to use armed
force at the primary level – the level understood by the current government and
sadly by the younger UNP Opposition in Sri Lanka.
APPENDIX
15 July 2019
The
Global Tamil & Mr Boris Johnson
This morning I received an email headed ‘BORIS
JOHNSON .....and the revenge of the Turks!’. I included Mr Johnson in one
of my email lists to share my feelings based thoughts on Tamils and Sinhalese
of British origin who have made strong impact with the British. Truth being
Universal – I feel that even if my emails are not read – the positions held by
the recipients would be strengthened by the power of true sharing. I do receive
acknowledgements without fail and that to me is confirmation of orderly
administration at the primary level. At the other end – is belief based sharing
without any form to confirm such sharing. To the extent I am genuine – I
believe that the other side receives it. This may or may not be the individual
named therein but the position or beyond that the issue of ethnic diversity. It
could have been Mr Navin Dissanayake who is part of the Sri Lankan
government and who did respond in his own way.
I believe that every completed interaction empowers
the relationship and that every completed relationship empowers common
ownership. I completed mine with Mr Navin’s father the Hon Gamini Dissanayake
who was our Law lecturer at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri
Lanka. I believe that all that also contributed to the Hon Gamini Dissanayake
supporting Tamil Politicians to take their due place in Sri Lankan politics,
which is presented by Mr DBS Jeyaraj as follows in his recent article about Mr
Amirthalingam:
[Former Mahaweli Development Minister Gamini
Dissanayake was strongly supportive of the Indo-Lanka Accord and resultant
peace efforts. He played a prominent role in encouraging self-exiled TULF
leaders to return and be re-absorbed into the political mainstream during the
latter stages of the J.R. Jayewardene Government. Gamini Dissanayake in 1988
took the initiative in ensuring the security of TULF leaders when he was a
minister.]
With this sharing of commonness as my investment in
Mr Borris Johnson my interests were drawn by the message ‘In a few days from now, Ali Kemal Bey’s great grandson,
Boris Johnson, may become Prime Minister of the UK!’
The message was based on the write up by Dr Norman Finkelstein – an American of
Jewish origin who is reported to have been banned in 2008 from entering Israel for 10
years for criticizing Israeli policies. The Facebook message in essence is as follows:
[At this time a century ago, the Interior Minister of Turkey
was Ali Kemal Bey, who had established the Anglophile Society, advocating that
Turkey become a British protectorate (like Kuwait, Qatar and Johor were at that
time). He was hopelessly on the wrong side of history!
When Atatürk completed the reconquest of Turkey from British,
French, Italian, Greek and Armenian control in November 1922, Atatürk’s
colleague, General Nureddin, had Ali Kemal captured; he was then lynched and
hanged from a tree.
In a few days from now, Ali Kemal Bey’s great grandson, Boris
Johnson, will become Prime Minister of the UK! (Ali Kemal’s son, Osman Wilfred
Kemal, changed his name to Wilfred Johnson, taking his maternal grandmother’s
maiden name).
Ali Kemal was a journalist and
politician, just as his grandson Stanley Johnson was. Stanley’s sons, Boris and
Jo, are both former journalists and ministers, and their sister, Rachel Sabiha
Johnson, carries Ali Kemal’s second wife’s name as her middle name!]
To my
mind, the above is a clear confirmation of dual-policy mind that develops dual
personalities – when duality is stronger than commonness. Truth makes us
common. When we are dual – and we are taken as policy makers or academic
leaders – we develop our other side position – the same way I develop the
common reader in my writing work. There are takers at various levels and at the
point I read mine Dr Finkelstein ‘s had 94 Comments and 273 Shares. The
one who passed on to me was one of them and of Sri Lankan Tamil origin and this
risk of duality is of concern to me.
In that response
to Sri Lankan Minister Mr Navin Dissanayake, I included the following:
[As for the Kingdom of
Kandy – A few years back I wrote referring to the last king of Kandy
‘King Vickrama Rajasinha’ as per Wikipedia. Months later when I was looking for
accommodation I came across Raja House about which experience I later wrote as
follows last year:
‘I felt that I received the blessings of the
above King when I was looking for accommodation in Colombo a couple of years back
and my usual host was away in London. I found the place called ‘Raja House’
along Rajasinghe Road in Colombo 6 – commonly known as Tamil suburb. The
morning after my arrival – I discovered the pictures of Sri Wickrama Rajasingha
wearing the ‘Pottu’ – representing the third eye and usually worn by Hindus. As
per my experience, Sinhalese do not wear the Pottu and hence the Pottu became a
feature through which Tamil women were identified more easily by attackers in
Colombo. I recall that in 1977 when I was pregnant with my daughter Gayathri –
I consciously removed the Pottu when going to work – so there was less risk of
me becoming the target of those attacking Tamils. Had King Rajasingha
manifested in Colombo as he was when he passed away on 30 January 1832, it is
likely that he would have been butchered on the roads of Colombo while
commuting between work and home.’]
We do carry certain
cultural marks reflecting our identities. But once we emigrate and become
‘common’ those marks are like the planetary positions in our horoscopes. If
driven more by the horoscope than by the present – we go back living in the
past. This is a block in realising the full value of our present.
Let us take for
example the following example of a Tamil leader Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan
who is the closest Tamil parallel of Mr Johnson I can think of right now and
who is reported to have been described by the first democratically elected
Prime Minister of Ceylon / Sri Lanka and the founder of Mr Navin
Dissanayake’s political party – the Hon D S Senanayake as "the greatest Ceylonese of all
times".
The following
confirms that the commonness was through the merger of Western culture with
Hindu spiritual life.
[Ramanathan
was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in
the 1889 Birthday
Honours. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1921. Ramanathan
founded two schools in northern Ceylon – Parameshwara
College, Jaffna and Ramanathan College. In
1907 Ramanathan rebuilt the Sri Ponnambala Vaneswara Temple at Sea Street in
Kochchikade, founded by his father. He helped establish the Hindu Education
Board in 1923 and served as its president and manager of schools. He was
also president of the Thiruvalluvar Maha Sabai in Madras. Ramanathan and other leading
figures founded The Ceylonese,
an English-language newspaper,
in 1913. He was president of the Tamil
Union Cricket and Athletic Club from 1917 to
1930. Ramanathan opposed extending voting rights to the people and urged
reservation of franchise only to men of the Vellalar caste.]
Wikipedia
If we now criticize now – the caste based structure
– we become time based dual citizens. One creates the other unless we merge
through the truth from the past into our present. That truth is there as the
invisible energy. If we show it in our current life – we lose the higher
enjoyment through commonness.
The problem at the University of NSW got worse due
to American trained academic / Vice Chancellor of Australian origin - who
knew very little about the then current needs of the University but used the
language of democracy through his autocratic position. Even though of Sri
Lankan origin I had become more Australian than the American of Australian
origin. Hence I invoked Australian powers to which I also had contributed. This
warned me against hasty actions in Northern Sri Lanka where citizens are
highly conscious of militant power. This includes University of Jaffna
established by energy of the greatest Ceylonese.
To be a uniting force – current custodians of power
of the University need to feel connect to the founders. That is when militants
earn the name ‘freedom fighters’ instead of terrorists.
If Mr Johnson does merge his ancestries – then he
would contribute strongly to merger of Islamic and Christian cultures.
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