Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

07 December  2019

DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY & COMMON CONSCIENCE

Our Airbnb guests from Canada expressed appreciation that we shared our home with strangers and that they were appreciative of the value for themselves. I said that to me they were not strangers. Airbnb was the structure through which we provided the service. I said that to the extent  we valued that Common structure – we were supported by it.  Beyond that was our own Energy which resides as  Common Conscience and guides us in a ‘free’ environment. Diplomatic Immunity and Presidential Immunity require us to be true to ourselves as per our Common Conscience. The workings of that Common Conscience was yet again confirmed through the case of Brig Priyanka Fernando who is reported to have been found guilty by UK Judiciary of ‘Public Order offence’ .

To my mind, the ‘Two Nation’ concept for Sri Lanka expressed by the UK Conservative Party at this time is no coincidence. Both are expressions of Common Conscience of patriots.  To the extent Tamils living in the UK have, through their Common Conscience, merged with mainstream, they are entitled to the Common Conscience of the whole of the UK. Those who have themselves contributed to the development of this Common Conscience beyond the level covered by law – are entitled to Immunity from  prosecution by juniors. In social language they are known as Ancestors who have merged with the Creator.  We are entitled to draw on their unlimited powers to the extent we believe in them as if they are a part of us.

I had this strange experience in Northern Sri Lanka. Initially, when developing the temple area in Tunaivi – a toddy-tapper village  I often invoked my paternal grandmother – Manikka Aachi who lived alone in the suburb of Arali -  close to Thunaivi. Due to caste-based hierarchy, the locals around the temple respectfully kept their distance from my grandmother. This I believe protected me when I lived alone there for development purposes. But gradually I also became more and more conscious of my mother’s contribution which was limited to the temple but not the culture of that area. My mother was brought up in Burma where caste based hierarchy did not apply within the Ceylonese community. But my mother contributed strongly to Jaffna and its education system. On Pongal Day of 2016, as I woke up at the temple cottage - I said ‘thank you’ to my mother for maintaining the tradition of celebrating Harvest festival at the temple. Now I realise that the Common Conscience of the Temple ordered me to leave that place and focus on Jaffna. I recorded this as follows the following year:

Caste Based Discrimination

[Last year, we did not celebrate Thai Pongal at our family temple in Thunaivi, Vaddukoddai, due to a group of youth playing loud music in the grounds next to our temple. That other property which is behind the home of high profile  President’s Counsel Mr Kanaganayagam Kanag-Isvaran is privately owned. After demonstrating my self-punishment by cancelling the celebrations, I went to the Jaffna Railway station to catch the train to Colombo. On the way I stopped at Our Lady’s church which we as a family often prayed at. There I received Pongal/Sweet rice made  by the workers. I felt deeply touched and made the connection to that area being my home-area by birth. It was as if my mother who prayed ardently at that church and to whom I paid my respects before the loud music was played – was blessing me. But that incident confirmed to me the ‘gap’ between my ‘class’ and the class that the youth belonged to.]

I believe that by thanking my mother I invoked the Common Conscience of the two areas. I now visit the temple area on Sundays and counsel the needy who seek my guidance. I live in Jaffna town at Jetwing hotels which provide me the secure environment as if I were a diplomat. I believe I am in terms of Education. Like in the case of our above mentioned Airbnb guests – we have the wholesome experience by becoming both sides of the service.

This morning a fellow Diaspora leader confirmed our true investment as follows in relation to me attributing credit to Sir Ramanathan as the ancestor of University of Jaffna:

[Hi Gajalakshmi

Mr. Sooriyasegaram was trying to mislead by saying that the UOJ was established by the left leaders to show his love towards these red leaders.

Sir P Ramanathan established the Parameswara college on his own money. Universities were built in the South. In the north it was 'established' on somebody's assets. Jaffna college in Vaddukoddai was taken over for the UOJ. In other words, two prominant educational institutions were killed to start the UOJ. I was in the team of take over. Was there a shortage of land in north for the so called red leaders to build the university?]

This feedback happened due to that Common Conscience of the Tamil Community led by its pursuit of Education as a priority.

I believe that when a leader is strongly influenced by this Common Conscience – that leader is entitled to immunity from disciplinary action or punishment through a structured system limited by its stated laws. The head of State needs such a freedom to operate as per her/his belief in the whole.

The Sri Lankan Tamil community taken as a whole feels that it is an  oppressed community – primarily due to the denial of merit based entry to University system. The level of Common Conscience in the Sri Lankan community is high due to this oppression. While some Sinhalese leaders may have directly contributed to such oppression due to their desire to ‘win’ rather than ‘own’ – majority were/are disconnected with minorities of a different culture. As my friend Dr David Garlick of the University of NSW said ‘we are ignorant that we are ignorant’.

Sinhalese rulers who disconnected with their British ancestry would have become dependent on current votes of majority – to whose lives they would have contributed to through Common Conscience developed through the Kandyan Law as well as Buddhist principles. But they would have lacked connection with other groups not covered by Kandyan law. Their interpretation of Common law would be strongly underpinned by Sinhala-Buddhist values. These are likely to naturally ‘block’ their minds to the truth of other cultures. Professor Savitri Goonesekere, who was Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo is reported by the Island, to have stated as follows:

[The influence of Hinduism and the laws of Manu are clearly seen in the Buddhist Customary law of Myanmar. In the laws of Manu, "a woman is under the power of her father in her girlhood, the husband during marriage and her son in widowhood; she is therefore never free." However those values were not incorporated in Sri Lanka’s Kandyan Sinhala law.] Social Transformation, Gender Inequality and Violence against Women in Contemporary Sri Lanka

The Distinguished Keynote Oration of the Centre for Gender Studies (CGSUK), University of Kelaniya, delivered by Professor Emeritus Savitri Goonesekere.

January 5, 2013

I do not know where Professor Savitri Goonesekere got the above from.  Theswalamai being the law applicable to Jaffna Tamils is the natural source to identify with Sri Lankan Hindu thinking. Thesawalamai does not discriminate on the basis of Religion. It does discriminate on the basis of gender. The essence of the Hindu law is in Theswalamai whose beauty I got to know through a testamentary case that I was a party to. As per the Hindu laws known to me – through practice – God is Half Man-Half Woman. The female half is Recognized as Shakthi/Energy. In areas where male consciousness is high – the woman becomes the Energy of  that partnership/group. This has been included in the nucleus of Thesawalamai Law through which daughter inherits from the mother and son from the father.

Like the Judiciary and Executive – Man and Woman are Separate heads of one family. The forms of their work based contributions are different. Hence in some instances the woman’s rights were presented through the man who dealt with the outside world.

The Law of Manu was upheld by Ellalan – who was King in Northern Sri Lanka. Had Duttugemunu prayed to Lord Buddha he would not have defeated Emperor Ellalan. Duttugemunu’s weapon was from Lord Muruga of Kathirgamam. Emperor Ellalan is revered as ‘Manu Neethi Kaatha Cholan’ / Cholan who upheld Manu Law. As per that legend – the mother cow, whose calf was killed by the prince sought justice from King Ellalan by ringing the bell that announced the need for justice by anyone. After responding to that call – the Just King  - rolled the chariot over his own son – as that was the parallel the cow would understand. As per that legend – this act of justice resulted in the gods blessing the Emperor and awakening both  the calf and the prince.

In contrast – human mothers who keep complaining to the government about their lost children are ignored by the heirs of Dutugemunu. So long as Tamils of Sri Lanka include in their Common Conscience – Emperor Ellalan – they would be an Independent Community. Even the educated like Professor Savitri Goonesekere are interfering when their community has shown no remorse for killing children – including Balachandran Prabakaran, the 12 year old son of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabakaran who was in the custody of the Armed Officers of the Sri Lankan Government.

Tamils who have shared in that kind of pain have contributed strongly to the escalation of the issue to global level.  Now we are able to draw on those rights.