Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

31 January  2020

LTTE ARE NOT FOREIGNERS TO TAMILS

Majority Sri Lankans  believe in the system of Karma. Most cultures believe in the system under different names and forms. As a Hindu I grew up in an environment where Dharma was important. Wikipedia presents Dharma as follows:

[In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta, the order that makes life and universe possible, and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living". In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order", and is also applied to the teachings of Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "phenomena"]

As per my experience, Dharma explains why something happens. Often we take the last person who manifests an outcome as the reason. But positive or negative there are other influences that contribute to a manifestation at that time at that place. The time and place influences are largely in terms of ‘form’. The root is formless Energy.

Wrongs could be corrected within the boundaries of the structures through which they were manifested. Beyond that they cannot be directly controlled or managed by us. They merge or oppose naturally other Energies.

There is a phrase in Tamil Ramayanam – ‘Indru Poi Naalai Vaa’ / Go today and come back tomorrow. This was stated by Rama to Lanka’s king Ravana who was without Arms. As per the Dharma of War – Rama refused to fight against someone who was unarmed. THAT to me is Dharma.

As per Island report ‘Colombo District Organiser of Viyath Maga speaks bluntly about their prime objective’:

[The new government had put a mega development drive in motion and there would be no turning back without achieving its goal of making the country on par with developed nations, Colombo District Organizer of the Viyath Maga organisation and Colombo District Urban Development Organiser Anura Fernando said.

Addressing a ceremony held at Kotahena on Monday where he declared open an operational office, Fernando said: "When the rest of the world was standing against us we won the war because people were with us. When the final campaign against LTTE was in progress, all patriots supported it from their hearts and minds. They knew it was their last chance to get the country free from the scourge of terrorism. The entire nation was mobilized and was focused on a single goal. We won it and in the very same way we will develop this country within few years. We see the same enthusiasm in people. This is the last chance to develop this nation. We will not get any other chance. All we need is to work for that single goal."]

The phrase ‘When the rest of the world was standing against us we won the war’  was presented by someone who is close to the current President. This means that this Viyath Maga leader  is confirming that he also contributed to winning the war and also that the ‘rest of the world was  standing against them’. This is his interpretation and to the extent he holds high status in common organizations with the President – one is entitled to take that as the President’s status also. That would explain why the current government is indicating withdrawing from the commitment made in relation to accountability in terms of Human Rights breaches during the  war.

In the meantime as per NDTV report ‘Kamal Nath Announces Grand Sita Temple To Be Constructed In Sri Lanka:

[The Madhya Pradesh government has announced the construction of a grand Sita temple in Sri Lanka, apart from an international level Buddha Museum in Sanchi according to Chief Minister Kamal Nath.]

Since the ‘Rest of the World’ includes India – as per Dharma – there ought to be no partnership with India by the Government that won the war despite India being against it. If it was only against the LTTE it was disciplinary action  by the government, similar to the actions against the JVP. To become a ‘war’ the other side was considered  an enemy and the community that the enemy belonged to was ‘foreign’. As per the above report:

[According to news agency ANI, the Chief Minister made the announcement on Monday in a meeting held with the delegation of Mahabodhi society, led by Banagla Uptisa, and Public Relations Minister in the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet, PC Sharma.

According to a press release, Chief Minister Kamal Nath has asked for the formation of a committee, which will have representatives from Madhya Pradesh and Sri Lanka government along with members of the Mahabodhi society, to oversee the construction of the Sita temple in a time-bound manner.]

Wikipedia presents Maha Bodhi Society  as follows:

[The Maha Bodhi Society is a South Asian Buddhist society founded by the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala and the British journalist and poet Sir Edwin Arnold. The organization's self-stated initial efforts were for the resuscitation of Buddhism in India, and restoring the ancient Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinara]

The above plan for Sita Temple seems a quid pro quo confirmed as follows:

During the course of the meeting, Kamal Nath asked for expedited approval for land to construct the Buddha Museum-cum-training and education centre in Sanchi.

PC Sharma also informed the Chief Minister about his interactions regarding the temple with the Sri Lanka government during his recent visit to the island nation.]
 
On 06 January 2020, the Times of India reported as follows :

[‘President Rajapaksa expressed happiness over the proposal of a cultural exchange programme based on folk culture programme based on folk culture between Sri Lanka and India. The President of Sri Lanka also agreed to the proposal of starting Bhopal-Colombo direct air service," said Sharma in a statement here.]

Sita is Hindu deity and the Buddhist President has no moral authority to meddle in the affairs of Hindu culture.  Sita temple is not a trading commodity in the custody of  Buddhists and likewise Buddha Museum is not a trading commodity in the custody of Hindu political leaders. The right comes from the People – the Believers – Hindus in Sri Lanka and Buddhists in India respectively. No government has any greater power than that.

On that basis LTTE belongs to the Tamil community and JVP to the Sinhala community. No government has the right to trade in their memorials. If LTTE were considered Sri Lankan, the actions against them and associated Tamils by government forces would not have been so hideous. The Tamil community does consider the LTTE to be Freedom Fighters and through such we have also eliminated the caste based negative karma that we were carrying until the Armed rebellion. We are now clean of that karma.

To the extent the Sri Lankan Government celebrates victory in that war – it acquires the caste based wins that Tamils took unjustly. It changed form due to community based displacement and hence the current attitude towards Muslims – to which the LTTE also contributed .