Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

03 April  2020

CAN YOU STOP THE  INSURGENCY VIRUS MADAM KUMARATUNGE?

On 01 February, here in Sydney, I heard about the wet-markets in China as being a big reason for the Coronavirus problem. I mentioned it in my article later. There were many Health Service professionals in that room where the judgment was delivered. At least two of them are doctors. Today, I read about it again in Madam Kumaratunge’s article headed ‘A Single Virus And A Humble Animal Sends The Whole World Into Lockdown’:

[Serious research has demonstrated that as far back as 13 years ago in 2007, academics have raised alarm with regard to “wet markets” and the indiscriminate consumption of wild life in China, the Far East and countries in South America, as well as in many other countries worldwide.]

And also :

["Coronaviruses are well known to undergo genetic recombination (375), which may lead to new genotypes and outbreaks. The presence of a large reservoir of SARS-CoV-like viruses in horseshoe bats, together with the culture of eating exotic mammals in southern China, is a time bomb. The possibility of the re-emergence of SARS and other novel viruses from animals or laboratories and therefore the need for preparedness should not be ignored."]

Let us replace Coronavirus with Armed Insurgency in Madam Kumaratunge’s home nation. The first outbreak of our times happened in 1971 during the leadership of Madam Kumaratunga’s mother. Then Sri Lanka went into lockdown. The insurgency virus also went through Genetic Recombination which was named Terrorism including by Madam Kumaratunge’s government. Some of those viruses continue in Parliament. These political viruses go/come ‘undercover’ from time to time. Some were/are in the Sri Lankan Judiciary also. Ceylon Today  published about one,  as follows through - the heading ‘To tackle a National calamity: President can set aside finances from Consolidated Fund - Sarath N. Silva’:

[Former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva claimed that considering some of the remarks made by former Parliamentarians Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, and Mangala Samaraweera, the people have to question as to whether the trio were living on this earth or on any other planet.

He claimed that when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Government were taking concrete measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the calls made by certain former Opposition Parliamentarians to convene Parliament is both ludicrous and absurd.

Silva questioned as to under what grounds Samaraweera had claimed that at a time when the House had been dissolved that money cannot be set aside through the Consolidated Fund.

He pointed out as per Article 4 of the Constitution; the President has been empowered with the responsibility to look after the well-being of the citizens. He said that as such, the President can set aside finances to tackle a National calamity through the Consolidated Fund.

He added that as the COVID-19 pandemic was a global crisis, the provisions contained in the Articles of the Constitution were more than suffice to combat its spread, by the Head of the State.]

As per my reading, article 4 mentions the President only at two places:

[The Sovereignty of the People shall be exercised and enjoyed in the following manner :–

(b) the executive power of the People, including the defence of Sri Lanka, shall be exercised by the President of the Republic elected by the People ;

(e) the franchise shall be exercisable at the election of the President of the Republic and of the Members of Parliament and at every Referendum by every citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years and who, being qualified to be an elector as hereinafter provided, has his name entered in the register of electors]

Wellbeing and Executive Power are not one and the same. In fact use of Executive Power can adversely affect the mental and physical wellbeing of the People.  It is to prevent natural use of such Executive Powers by those emotionally driven, that we have Laws that carry intellectual balance.

Subjective influence could be emotional or spiritual through realised oneness. When they are emotional they are as temporary as the body. When they are spiritual, they are our Soul-power.

In Hinduism, on the above basis there is a distinction between animal power and divine power. Humans are a combination of the two. Former group is known as Asurar and the latter as Thevar. So long as Asurar stay within their territory they would be self-managing. King of Lanka – Ravanan – abducted Sita and started the Ramayana war. Lakshmanan – drew the line of protection – known as Lakshmanan Rehai - and asked Sita to not come beyond that line. Sita did come in order to abide by the ethical rule that – ‘when giving alms the giver and the receiver need to be within the same territory.’

Sita went into Ravana’s territory and was abducted. Wikipedia reports the following application by Indian Parliament:

[Constitution is very clear on the roles of the Judiciary and the Legislature, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said; both should not cross the Lakshman Rekha.]

The same Wikipedia has published the following:

[Justice Silva was seen as close to President Chandrika Kumaratunga when first appointed to the Supreme Court in 1995, then serving under her as Attorney-General in 1996 and was appointed a President's Counsel the same year. His appointment as Chief Justice in 1999 evoked widespread protest in the media on concerns of there being more qualified and experienced judges in Sri Lanka, and Chandrika Kumaratunga was perceived as using him to control Court decisions. In his short term on the Court, he had contributed to and rendered decision on many Court cases that appeared to satisfy the Executive President's political needs]

That virus of currying favour with the President is confirmed by the report of abuse of status to blindly promote the current President.

Separation of Powers between the Judiciary and the Executive is essential in a democracy that seeks to be driven by intellectual balance. Emotions expressed within a sovereign group are diffused by another section  of the group. In multi religious nations such one sided expressions need to be limited to the respective group’s  boundaries – so they would be diffused within.

The body of the Muslim who died recently ought to have been handed over to his family instead of being treated as Public Property which effectively makes the body of an orphan. Medical reasons would have applied only if there was risk of infection from the body. The Sri Lankan Government seems to be closely following the Chinese Government’s orders to cremate rather than bury the dead bodies of Coronavirus victims.

Thus, China gets the credit of controlling the pandemic in Sri Lanka.

In democracy – both sides are taken as right at the primary level.  Rights and wrong begin only after a law is made. Parliamentarians Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, and Mangala Samaraweera – mentioned above are from the UNP. It is their duty to show the other side that they represent. It needs to be diverse to the projection by the government. Unless both are of the same political group – they have to show a diverse angle to the government. In this instance the SLPP interpreted that it had the authority of the Constitution to draw from the Consolidated Fund. UNP showed another side. As per my knowledge of law – Article 4 of the Constitution does not permit the President to draw from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of preventing the spread of the Coronavirus. Since the Constitution is the mother of laws – if there is nothing in the constitution that permits such drawing, the Parliament needs to vote on it as in any budgetary process or through Specific Purpose rules as per the Constitution. They would have been the real opposition if they had remained in the jungles.  

There may be others who believe otherwise and they are entitled to do so. Then we become natural opposition – diffusing each other. The net value then manifests in a free environment – as insurgency did in the Sri Lankan jungles. Madam Kumaratunge highlights  the role of wild animals as follows:

[We are aware that the starting point of this pandemic is a public “wet market” in Wuhan where wild animals such as serpents, bats and others are kept crowded in cane baskets. These animals are bought and consumed as delicacies. This market is known to be crowded with animals and human beings and is not famous for its levels of cleanliness. Hence, infected animals would have infected other animals, which in turn would have infected people.]

Sinhala-Buddhist supremacy began during our times in the Parliament of Madam Kumaratunge’s father. Those driven by the ‘looks’ belong in a different category to those driven by intellectual balance – known as ‘knowledge’. Knowledge based management is essential for harmony in a multi-religious country for it to qualify as a sovereign nation.

Whether it is Coronavirus or Armed  Insurgency – both are animalistic. Only those who have experienced deep pain have the solution. The pain could be direct or through Oneness sharing. Natural problems happen when some of us live in our own castles in the sky and others on earth think the castles  are real and copy them, steal them and lose what they truly had.