Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

31 October  2020

 

 

Jaffna Languages

Yesterday, someone from Jaffna wrote in my Facebook page, in response to an old posting:

எம் ஆர் சிங்கம்

உ

ௐ

வணக்கம்!

தயவுடனானகோரிக்கை

தமிழிச்சியாய் பிறந்த தாங்கள் தமிழில் இதில் வரையாததுஏன்?

சைவசமயத்தை 63 நாயன்மாரும் பலஇம்மிசைபட்டு தமிழிலில்வளா்த்த சமயத்தை தங்களுக்கும் எஙகளுக்கும்பாடசாலையில் வாத்தியாா்தமிழில்தான் கற்பித்தாா்கள்என்பதைஅறிந்திருப்பீா்கள்.

நன்றி,வணக்கம்,

 

This translates as follows:

[M R Singham

Greetings

A humble request

As a person born as a Tamil, why did you not write this in Tamil? As you would know, the Hindu religion developed in Tamil by 63 Hindu Saints who underwent many hardles was taught to us  also in Tamil in our schools.

Thank you & Greetings. ]

My response was :

I have written for Tamils in Jaffna in Tamil. Please see my book at austms.org. I write to wider world in English which is also highly respected in Jaffna. I did not learn Hinduism in school. I learnt it at home - largely through inheritance from my parents. I was educated at Holy Family Convent Jaffna. It is wrong of you to assume otherwise.

 

I was hurt by the above because someone who assumed high status over me on his proficiency in Tamil was effectively ‘telling’ me. That is NOT the Jaffna, I call home. We did not speak English at home in Jaffna. But both my parents were proficient in English in their respective pathways. Catholic education included high priority for English during my school days in Jaffna. All those to whom Jaffna is ‘home’ would attribute priority to English and Tamil at the same level. They are different and hence need to be not made senior or junior to each other. To do so, leads to separatism. Most of my readers are proficient in English. Even with those in Vaddukoddai who are not proficient in English, I write in very simple English and they feel ‘included’. They are also Hindus by belief. When the mind is merged the language is secondary. The communication happens mind to mind.

To me, it is important to mentally do the work that the other is directly doing. That results in mind merger which prevents unjust discrimination.

To my mind, this kind of ‘Sinhala only’ opposed by ‘Tamil only’ leads to self-imposed separatism. Leaders who are selfish would fail to value the contribution that we make through multicultural pathways which are richer in commonness than the ‘only’ pathways. The above guy who is using the multicultural pathway of Facebook, is being abusive of that space. He is a foreigner to that space.

An Engineer cannot be made relative  to a Doctor. The measure used needs to be common and commonness is natural through belief. Where we lack belief – we need to consciously use an accepted intellectual measure. A strong culture would have both  - just as we have elected government and intellectual judiciary. To use Dr Asanga Welikala’s words of wisdom – we need both consent as well as constraint in democracy. The constraint comes from the intellectual contributors to eliminate consent that is lacking in belief. Any more than that would lead to abuse of power.

The above user of Facebook could have ‘admired’ me for my greater proficiency in English relative to himself. But those who are outcome driven would carry the desire to ‘show’ that they are better than us without obvious status. Hence they  would look for someone who seems less proficient than they in a particular area. This is why Lord Krishna said not to be driven by outcomes but to do one’s duty which means we have the structured experience. This structure varies as we move from family to community and to nation.

Unjust Discrimination happens in a group where status is not justly allocated as per merit. This is the case with the Sri Lankan Tamil community of current times.

If Tamil nation is real – it would value diverse cultures – diversity happening through language also. Some of us may not know Tamil but we may have contributed to the independence of the community known as ‘Tamil Community’ and therefore become natural part of that community. Many ‘Westerners’ fall within that group. There would be others who may be highly proficient in Tamil but with least contribution to the Community’s independence. They are outsiders.

When we take revenge – an eye for an eye – we become like the very side that we criticize. One with belief would discriminate between right and wrong on the basis of common principle and not on the basis of ‘looks’ . Anti-discrimination laws are to eliminate this skin based discrimination. Until we stop taking credit on the basis of ‘looks’ we would continue to discriminate unjustly against each other. It’s time for some affirmative action within our respective communities.

My father whose birth anniversary it is today, worked hard and sacrificed to put us through a good education that my mother wanted for us. That has set a good example to many in the community, within their own families. THAT to me is our true culture with multiculturalism as its crown. The Easter bombings happened due to relativity outside our circles of common belief. It was community against community and the government was not directly targeted. Thus the government became an outsider.

Jaffna as I completed my relativity has never elevated Hinduism above other religions. Let us not excessively criticize ‘Sinhala only’ leaders and become like them. Natural Justice is written by each one of us.  

I received the above map when I was writing this article. It was no coincidence. It was sent by my ancestors through an heir. That is how we inherit the contributions of all saints who have heirs in Jaffna. We call them Siththar/ Divine beings. The message in the map is that we of Northern Sri Lanka need English as our First Language; those down South need Chinese and those in West need to learn Hindi. There is no room for Tamil or Sinhalese domination. That is the fate we wrote through each other.

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

30 October  2020

 

 

Non Aligned Minorities

The current Sri Lankan government insists that Sri Lanka is non-aligned. I have heard some Tamils also claim so in relation to the ethnic conflict. As per my observation, they are actually separating themselves from the issue itself.  A truly sovereign nation is naturally non-aligned. A truly sovereign body is also debt free.

Where there is a sovereign body anyone is free to access its powers and no one outside its borders is a relative. After Hambantota became Chinese territory, the government of Sri Lanka has no legitimacy to claim that it is sovereign. That is how debt, past its due  date becomes a curse against sovereignty.

A Tamil aligned with the Tamil side in the war responded as follows to my yesterday’s article:

[The Families of those who were made to disappear in Sri Lanka demand justice https://youtu.be/DDJB92C7luw

There were many hundreds of men and women who surrendered and handed over to the security forces and many who were arrested at the end of the war were made to disappear by the security forces in Sri Lanka. It is now more than ten years since these families are demanding justice from the international community.

it is with very deep regret that we have to note that there are no meaning full steps  taken for an independent inquiry into this matter.]

There were two Tamils known to me personally who were in the war camps in 2009. One was non-aligned and was  in Yoga Swami home for the aged; the other who was strongly aligned to the Tamil side found his way out. The Sri Lankan government in the UN is the latter’s parallel in terms of global power.

The above who are seeking redemption through the UN are a third category. To know how they could redeem themselves from their misery, one has to go to the root. Once we get to the root – our powers merge with their needs.

Those who had the direct experience would know that most suffered due to both sides – Sri Lankan army offering protection and Tamil militants wanting more numbers as shields. If the above group believes that their loved ones fought to protect Tamil sovereignty – they would know also that their disappearances confirm that sovereignty. Towards this, they ought to have first questioned groups like the TGTE – Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam which claims to have inherited the LTTE values. TGTE has confirmed recently that the endorsement of law-abiding governments is important to them. This is a handicap in upholding separatist claims. Militants maintained their distance including from law abiding Tamil seniors in order to maintain their leadership of those who were not bound by such laws. The validity of their declaration of ‘freedom’ was based on their governance power – for better or for worse. Such true belief frees one of dependence.  Hence their show of exceptional talent with much less resources than the official forces.

If TGTE were true heirs of the LTTE – they would have first taken up the cause of these folks until completion,  before  seeking UN intervention to celebrate Thileepan, which was reported by Lanka News:

[Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) today sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly & Association and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, urging them to help Thileepan’s memorial to be observed peacefully in Sri Lanka.]

Now that TGTE has lawfully claimed to be an heir of the LTTE – it has Equal responsibility as the Sri Lankan government to find out what happened to those missing during the war. Soldiers who went missing in action would have found their own way out. To the extent the heirs of militants are not questioned by these relatives, they are confirming that they never considered the militants to be responsible government – but mere participants in the war-game.

I believe that I was  born sovereign. The more I focus within me – the more I appreciate my sovereign powers. I did lose benefits and opportunities along the pathway – to realising this sovereign power. But now I believe that in return for losing those benefits and opportunities and not retaliating, I became the driving force of that system through an alternate pathway. That is what democracy is all about. To become Equal Other / Opposite side of the officials who fail to recognise our true positions, we need to stop being their Opposition in action at the maximum point taken by them. Beyond that we become both sides of governance – as in academic work and media advocacy. If we keep showing opposition beyond that Equal point  - we become perpetrators. This is the lesson Tamils led by Diaspora power need to learn to free themselves of the misery of war.

When this government withdrew from the previous government’s commitment to UNHRC – it became aligned towards China’s government. When the American government pulled out of UNHRC – it became free to be China’s enemy. In both instances the relationship was money based. Those who truly identify with the UN values would become the UN in their local areas of operation. There was no such representation in Mannar – Northern Sri Lanka where the    above meeting is reported to have  happened.  To the extent their need is genuine, they would find their own answers from within, once they are able to lose sight of external temptations and start writing their own narrative – as I did here in Australia as well as within Vaddukoddai family.

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

29 October  2020

 

 

 

Rajapaksa Brothers & Chinese Citizenship

They say that the Journey is more important than the destination. I learnt it through Bhaghawath Geetha which is globally recognized as the Hindu bible. As per Geetha – Krishna says to Prince Arjuna to kill his opposition in combat  even though they are his family elders and gurus. Krishna says that they (family elders and gurus ) would expect this of Arjuna. The reason is that at mind level they are eternally one due to completion of their relationships. From then on – they are Common and naturally empower their juniors. That which is common has no other particular form. This is the basis for celebrating war heroes.  We then celebrate their war experience.  Those who celebrate victory are confirming that they are destination-driven. Likewise those who mourn defeat. The higher the pathway, the less visible the destination and the stronger the common experience. Death is part of that common experience. We will know this to the extent we had the actual war experience.

Both sides to the Sri Lankan armed war were destination driven and therefore did not have the common experience. As per the Sri Lanka Brief report headed ‘Some Reflections on the Twentieth Amendment Bill – Asanga Welikala’:

[States based on the concept of popular sovereignty hold that governments that are periodically elected to serve the public, and the more permanent constitutional arrangements through which government itself is established, must be founded on the freely expressed consent of the majority of the population. In order for a democracy to be regarded as a constitutional democracy, this principle of majoritarian rule must be balanced by the constraints that are imposed by the constitution and the rule of law. It is only when both these features are present that we can call a country a constitutional democracy.]

What happened becomes admissible ‘fact’ only when the consent (destination) is at least equalled by the constraint (experienced difficulty). Where the value of  the experience is stronger than the value of the outcome – the Universal value raises Itself to lead such a person. Such a person could never be defeated. This is known as Soul-power in religious circles and Governance-power in Politics and Law.   Discretionary powers are rendered on the basis of this power. When consent factor is stronger than the constraint factor – our intellectual powers deteriorate and we become frivolous. When we then  protest against the official system we become vexatious and damage the earned rights of law-abiding members of our community.

Majority vote based largely on belief confirms leadership by the power of Pirapanjam / Universe. A leader who is elected by voters of this calibre would naturally lead and therefore does not need the law. Hence the leader is covered by immunity provisions. Dr Welikala quotes as follows in the above mentioned article:

[M.A. Sumanthiran, an ethnic Tamil lawmaker, said the weakening of Parliament would result in minority communities losing their voices.

"There will be power changing hands from the legislature to the executive. In the legislature all sections of the polity have a say, however small they may be," he said. "Even if presidents win election with votes from minority groups, past experience has shown that they will only look after the interests of the majority community, from whom they received most of their votes."]

If the votes were obtained by showing particular benefits AND the minority / opposition believes in the whole more than the majority and they declare that through their votes – the Universal power becomes their leader

 Those who lack governance power need Executive powers and not immunity. One who asks for Executive powers as well as immunity from prosecution is a coward.

Now Sri Lanka has become a land through which Americans as well as Chinese governments are trying to show ‘Executive’ powers. Sri Lankan governors who have global experience can diffuse them. Those who seek Executive powers through Sri Lankan positions do not have this power. Dual citizens in Sri Lankan government do not have this power. Two Rajapaksa brothers as ‘free’ citizens confirmed preference to become American citizens. They have the duty to oppose governments that are opposed to the American government. Next time around – they have to emigrate to  China and not to America. They would if they were truly grateful to China.  

 

 

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

28 October  2020

 

 

 

China & the 6^th Amendment

There are many pathways through which we achieve a target. The effects may look the same but level of the pathway we follow determines the depth and / or the width covered by our work. A Tamil lawyer-politician recently stated that his party’s goal was the same as that of the LTTE’s  but that the pathways were different. That would then make them each other’s opposition in democracy. The family example is that we could have agreed to ignore Thesawalamai principles and divided brother’s intestate estate equally – as per the legal application made by sisters of the Deceased. The Northern Sri Lankan Courts ruled on Common law basis to distribute equally – as if Thesawalamai did not apply. The political version of this is that Sri Lanka is a Unitary State. The above politician’s electorate is Vaddukoddai which is the same as that of the family concerned. So far there has been no discussion on the validity of this judgment  delivered in Northern Province. We did not appeal to the Supreme court. Instead, I wrote the book – ‘Jaffna is my heritage and not dowry.’ That escalation happened because of our side’s truth and genuine commitment to the path of law as interpreted by us and as ‘told’ by the courts.

That book is about how I had the judicial experience in Northern Province whose then Chief Minister Mr CV Wigneswaran was kept informed of our experience. By choosing to remain silent Mr Wigneswaran and the above mentioned lawyer-politician have confirmed the lack of commitment to democracy. During a recent survey by the media, an American lady said that her vote was for Trump because of the positive experiences she had under Trump’s presidency. That is also the way I would vote – not just in elections but on continuous basis – which empowers or blocks the leader through the system of truth. The most powerful of all is the vote of Belief. 

When we vote on the basis of belief – we actually vote for ourselves. The system of Truth carries it to the top to deliver to us in one form or the other. Where a judicial system is seriously damaged by falsity, this passage is hindered and hence truth takes alternate routes including media and publishing. It never fails to reach its destination which is the group bound by belief/sovereignty.

In our case the destination was our diversity in Northern Sri Lanka where majority practice Thesawalamai law – largely in terms of marriage and inheritance. To the extent I was true to this law, those Ancestral minds guided me and I mind-merged with the practitioners who had the need. In turn – the value of our Brother who passed away – was escalated to the higher judicial level that we as a family were capable of raising it to. This then becomes an actual governance structure for that whole of Northern Province. This happens with everyone who is the provider as well as the beneficiary. That is the true service to the Public.

In our family matter the visible effects – monetary wealth - were the same as if we had consented to equal distribution. But the pathway was different. We took the adversarial position which upheld the Vaddukoddai Resolution of entitlement to Separation of Powers which is different to ‘separate state’.

Recently, a Tamil Diaspora professional forwarded a video clip regarding the separation of powers between male and female Thookanang Kuruvi / Baya Weaver. The clip was sent to explain the common reason for ‘divorce’. The presenter emphasises the nature of male and female Kuruvis being different and how they do not interfere in each other’s activities and live in harmony. The presenter states that one is not equal to the other. I identify with this because logically, to be equal the measure / law needs to be common. When the functions are not common, the laws cannot be common. They are differently abled and are taken as equal so one  does not take the other as junior.

Thesawalamai law thus separates daughters and sons as two different groups. Daughters inherit from mothers and sons from fathers. The inheritance includes the skills. In most families known to me – women are primarily home makers even when they go out and work. Yet, the Jaffna Judiciary – all males – who probably did not like my show of independence, upheld common law outcome as claimed by the apparently submissive female opposition who spoke  only as per their male lawyer’s coaching.

To truly claim independent nation Northern Tamils have to confirm strong commitment to Thesawalamai law. To claim a long history of Tamils living in Sri Lanka is the parallel of Separate State as structured by militants. Both are physical realities. One who practiced gender based diversity would naturally appreciate nationhood on the basis of diverse culture.

The military would tend to interpret Separation of Powers as Separate State. The intellectual would read it as self-governance claim. The 6^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution was introduced in 1983 to defeat armed militancy which interpreted the Vaddukoddai Resolution 1976 as creation of Separate State. The declaration happened through the democratic pathway. But the interpretation by the militants was autocratic as per their pathway.

To the extent separation is shown / claimed without majority folks being self-governing, we are cheating ourselves and facilitating elected leaders to practice autocracy. The result is division by the parallels of the mother in King Solomon’s legend ready to accept  half the body of the child. Those who are truly nationalistic through any pathway would rather see the child alive as another’s baby than have half the dead baby.

The Hindu order of respect for elders – is in the order of Mother, Father, Guru & God. Mother is the most visible and God is not visible. The parallel in government is Local Government, Provincial (State in Australia) Government,  National / Federal and Global. Global Governance that is shown and seen is the parallel of State that is seen which brought about the 6^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. Now that China is being shown and seen more and more as part of  Sri Lankan government – one is entitled to conclude that Democratic Sri Lankans have reversed the karma of the 6^th Amendment on the Sri Lankan government itself.

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

27 October  2020

 

 

 

Easter Sunday Bombings & the Catholic Leadership

Article 9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution requires as follows:

[9. The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e)]

 

Articles 10 & 14 are in the Fundamental Rights section of the Constitution. This means that the President could be sued for breaching the provisions covered by these two articles which state as follows:

 

[10. Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

 

14. (1) Every citizen is entitled to –

(e) the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching;]

 

As per the Ceylon Today article headed ‘Sirisena and Jayawardena conversed via phone’:

[According to telephone data reports, a 159-second telephone conversation had taken place between former President Maithripala Sirisena and then Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena at 7:59 a.m. on 21 April 2019, before the Easter Sunday bombings.

Also, another telephone conversation had taken place between the two on 20 April 2019 at 6:16 p.m. In addition, there had been about 20 telephone conversations between Sirisena and Jayawardena from 4 to 21 April 2019, after the foreign intelligence information that a group including the Leader of the National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ), Zaharan Hashim could launch a terrorist attack, being received by the SIS.]

These confirm serious breaches of fundamental responsibilities placed by the Constitution on the Government and in terms of security on President Sirisena who was then the Defence Minister. The Constitution is the Consolidated Mind of Parliament’s elders.

As per the above report:

the above “ was revealed when the former President testified before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter Sunday bombings on 24 October. President’s Counsel Shamil Perera, appearing for the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, cross-examined the witness.”

The question that comes to my mind is as to why Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith did not initiate a fundamental rights action against the president for failing to take measures to develop a system that would protect and  provide enough security through the armed forces to non-Buddhists? One who is in deep pain would have taken action irrespective of whether s/he was likely to win or lose. I did and hence my conclusion.

On 23 May 2019 – just a couple of days over a month after the Easter Bombings The Hindu reported as follows, under the heading ‘Sirisena pardons firebrand Buddhist monk’

[The Buddhist priest, who leads the reactionary group Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force or BBS), was serving prison term following conviction for contempt of court. Widely known for his hate-speech against Muslims, he has in the past also been accused of inciting anti-Muslim violence – a troubling post-war trend in the island.]

Why did the Catholic clergy not use the adversarial system and oppose the President by filing fundamental rights action in relation to Easter Bombing negligence?

As they say – there is more than one way to can skin a cat. The evidence that is surfacing through the inquiry would be useful in politics – as we learnt here in Australia. As per my understanding whether it was the inquiry into the conduct of our NSW Premier or that of the former President of Sri Lanka – they are political trials. When led by the People as happened in the case of the Chicago Seven who were arrested during protest against America’s role in Vietnam war, they become People’s power. The above were found guilty by the Judiciary but won the hearts and minds of the People whose children were recruited to fight as per government’s mandate. Not different to the plight of both Tamils and Sinhalese combatants in the Sri Lankan war. Former was fighting to promote Indian influence and the latter to promote the  anti-Indian Sri Lankan government.

The weaker our common belief, the stronger the need for intellectual bridge between communities of  diverse culture. Mr Sirisena lacked both in the case of non-Buddhists. In terms of Sinhala Catholics, he had some connection through language. In terms of Muslims it was so wide as to cause separatism. This was confirmed by the above mentioned pardoning. At least now, Sri Lankan Catholic leaders need to take action against the former president who failed in his duty as Defence Minister. Failure to do so would weaken Sri Lankan Catholics further.  When action is taken on the basis of belief – it naturally promotes separation of powers and therefore invokes natural powers accordingly – confirming that Sri Lanka is not a unitary state.

 

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

26 October  2020

 

 

Nationalism & Armed Rebellion

I was happy to observe the orderly conduct of little kids at our family temple in Thunaivi, Sri Lanka, last night – the big night of Saraswathi poojah.  We participated online, from Sydney Australia. In 2003 when I undertook the service, there was no electricity or running water in Thunaivi – but there was, across the road at Sangarathai – a higher caste area. I believe that when we include ourselves as part of a community, we would feel the community’s needs as ours. That is of absolute value. The greatest challenge in Thunaivi, was the difference in culture due to caste based separatism. The reality on that basis was that the rules and laws that I was used to when I grew up in Jaffna would not work in Thunaivi. As temple owner, I was accepted as senior in Thunaivi – except by those who had thoughts of takeover which was confirmed by sabotage when I laid down rules as per the highest practitioner of order, in that area, who mind merged with me for that issue. My Tamil book ‘Jaffna is my heritage and not dowry’ was written in a language they would understand. It is also about Thesawalamai law which many folks in that area do relate to from various angles.

When I therefore opened this morning, the email from Yoga Joseph of Canada, forwarding to me  - an Australian Tamil – an email from a fellow Australian – Victor Rajakulendran, with the following message, it did not seem orderly to me:

[From: Victor Rajakulendran 

To:  Yoga Joseph Canada

Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2020, 04:18:16 a.m. EDT

Subject: My Article on "Self Determination of Tamils"

 

Dear All 

Part I of my article I wrote to the Australian Monthly Tamil Journal “Thesathin Kural” on their invitation. Your comments are appreciated. 

Part II will be sent separately. 

With Regards

Victor 

Dr. Victor Rajakulendran

Sydney Australia]

 

Obviously, the Tamil Nation that Victor has in mind, is different to the ‘Tamil Nation’ I have in mind. Victor is in my media email list and yet he chose not to directly share his work with me. THAT is unjust discrimination based on official status as per a particular group’s culture. In this instance, it is militant culture and is the parallel of Thunaivi culture. Victor knows about the angles I come from and yet failed to ‘include’ me which also means failure to include Thunaivi group at least as opposition. In democracy, which uses the adversarial system – the form of government is not complete without equal opposition. Hence I conclude that Victor is practicing autocracy which fits well with the producers of Thesathin Kural / Voice of the Nation.

 

Not one of the folks in Thunaivi would relate to Victor’s article even though it is in Tamil. At the moment Victor is not carrying their need as his need.  But the militant leadership used Thunaivi folks to show that we were clever in armed fighting. Victor’s article does not include the needs of Thunaivi folks who like Thileepan’s family lost many of their sons to the attraction shown by militants.

The banner above in that magazine poses the question ‘How did the youth who were faithfully handed over to your Army get lost?’ The above question is true if:

(i)             The question was being asked by Sri Lankans to whom the Sri Lankan government was their senior  or

(ii)           The question as per its substance is actually being asked of the Armed Militant Leaders by those to whom Tamil nation was independent of the Sri Lankan government.

 

As per my knowledge Tamil youth were not handed over to Sri Lankan Army by Tamils. Hence the question is being raised against the Armed Militants headed by the LTTE! That is how truth manifests itself through the needy who often do not have a voice. If this magazine is a true voice of Tamil families who did not fight against armed leadership out of fear – the question is being asked of Armed Tamil Leadership that promised Tamil Nation.

 

Victor’s article "Self Determination of Tamils" is filled with material from around the globe. Most young Australian Tamils known to me will have great difficulty relating to it. Given that the article is being written by an Australian for an Australian Tamil magazine – it needs to address the needs of Australian Tamils to preserve our  war time experience as a heritage and to structure our current investments in Sri Lankan Tamil community on the basis of our post war experience in Sri Lanka merged with Australian values largely through Australian governance structures. Such self-determination needs to begin with the Australian Tamils being given priority over other Tamils including those currently in Sri Lanka. The form would be different. One cannot live the life of another.

 

If the purpose is to oppose the Sri Lankan government – then we are confirming a Federal structure. The nation under Federal structure is Sri Lanka. We cannot have both structures in the one community at the same time. The confusion that Victor has promoted is dual citizenship conflict which has been prevented by Australian Constitution.  When Victor becomes true Australian – he would respect that and inherit that wisdom of Commonwealth.

 

Talking about Commonwealth wisdom, the UK Judiciary facilitated the lifting of proscription on the LTTE at the same time the pro-China government of Sri Lanka was brought back to power by majority race. We needed the geographic separation for both to be true at the same time. That is how the British continue to contribute to balancing the un-reconcilable differences – through natural pathways as if they were messengers of god.

 

If Australian Tamils are seeking to be cleared of association with war-crimes committed by the Armed militants – we need such a distance from armed militancy – now that we are living in a nation where Australian Tamils as a community do not find fault with the Australian government on the basis of racism and wage armed war if they do. As a member of the Australian Tamil community, I promised Australia, to follow the lawful path even after I was failed again and again by the Australian judiciary. That to me is the model that  confirms self-determination as per our truth and truth alone.

 

 

 

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

25 October  2020

 

 

Hindu Nationalism or Tamil Nationalism?

Today we Hindus celebrate Mother Saraswathi – goddess of Education. I inherited belief in that philosophy from my mother who grew up in Burma and therefore was strongly influenced by Indian Hindu culture. My father grew up in Northern Sri Lanka and was influenced by Jaffna Tamil culture. Between the two cultures - Indian culture celebrated Saraswathi poojah more elaborately than Jaffna  culture. We as a family became multicultural and merged both cultures at home. The picture above confirms that merger through marriage of my father’s sister to my mother’s uncle from Burma. To the extent I invoke through my belief, I feel their Energy. In our office in Vaddukoddai where we have this picture, it is my belief that I invoke the combined power which is regional family power. At the temple in Thunaivi-Sangarathai – I believe I invoke traditional local power as per my father’s side.

These passages are important in developing structures through which the folks of an area would mind-merge.

Today, I was directed to Capital TV’s interview with Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam – a lawyer politician whose office is on the way to  our office from our temple. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izWAuew5Xag&feature=youtu.be . Politically speaking we could say that the temple is in the area where majority support Mr Douglas Devananda who is a coalition partner of  Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa and our office is in Vaddukoddai which in TNA area and carries the spirit of the Hon Appapillai Amithalingam – under whose leadership Vaddukoddai Resolution happened and led Tamils to political victory in the 1977 elections. Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam confesses to inheriting the mandate of the LTTE which killed the Hon Appapillai Amithalingam and downgraded Nationalism as declared through Vaddukoddai Resolution to Separatism promoted through armed power. That is to aim Vaddukoddai to become like Thunaivi – in which area I have never seen Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam and to which area the ‘family’ of Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam mentioned below never came even to participate in the opening of the Development Secretariat on our temple land donated to the public.

I met Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam when we needed a lawyer when the High Court of Jaffna while accepting my appeal application in the testamentary matter required me to restructure it to suit the local practices. I asked a friend - Mr Sam Hensman and he  recommended Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam. As is my way, I took my turn in the long queue  to see Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam in his office. He was quite courteous and receptive but excused himself on the basis that he was related to our opposition. That opposition was made up by my husband’s sister and brother in law. The Sinhalese parallel of that would be the claim of Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa excusing himself because the  opposition is his wife’s relative in parliament. Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam recommended Mr Visvalingam Manivannan whose focus was strongly diluted by his political distraction, especially during the time Miss Vithiya Sivaloganathan’s rape and murder case was being heard in the Jaffna Courts. I believe that we lost the appeal due to lack of mind merger between client and lawyer which in turn connects to the judge. Mr Yogendara - the other side lawyer from Colombo was not so distracted and prepared his submissions in a way that was easy for the judge to copy. As per my discovery – this is the sorry state of affairs of  Jaffna judiciary – which in spirit includes the mind of Mr Wigneswaran who is an extreme example of the breach of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers between the Government and the Judiciary followed by religion and politics. He effectively copied Buddhist leaders.

Our NSW Parliament presents the root of this doctrine as follows:

[In his Second Treatise of Civil Government, English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) noted the temptations to corruption that exist where “... the same persons who have the powers of making laws to have also in their hands the power to execute them ”]

Today when I watched the above program presented by Capital TV I felt the alienation by Vaddukoddai Tamil lawyer from this policy. It is that much more important that groups that claim two nations one country appreciate this Doctrine as if it is part of their very being. Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam who claimed that they were developing pan-nationalism needs to appreciate that Tamils within the Diaspora who practice democracy and therefore the Separation of powers between diverse cultures, would lead this development of pan-nationalism. If the local politicians who did not appreciate the value of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers led the development – we would end up with separatism. The Capital TV’s ‘The Politician’ program’s presenter was clever and brought out this truth about Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam through this program. One of the questions he asked was about the genuineness of the oath taken as a lawyer – which includes acceptance of punishment to any  claim of separate state (6^th Amendment to the constitution) – by a politician who claims that the goal of LTTE separate country and that of his party were the same. One who is committed to pan-nationalism would have transcended separatism.  The program confirmed to me that which I already knew through my direct experience with Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam who has become bi-polar between lawyer and politician but without the separating space needed to be true to each profession independent of the other. This is an essential criterion to determine pan-nationalism.      

Mr Kaviyalagan another young Tamil journalist in the Tamil Diaspora clarified that the Navarathri function at the centre of my yesterday’s article was actually conducted at Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa’s home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGAceouSs4M ) and not at the temple as claimed by Yoga Joseph who forwarded it to me under the title ‘MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA AT NAVARATHIRI PRAYERS IN TEMPLE’. But Kaviyalagan made false presentation that the head of Siva Senai Mr Sachchithananthan was Indian. I met Mr Sachchithananthan through my articles and later in person when he introduced himself to me at the Jetwing Jaffna foyer. We have common interests in Hinduism including through Thiruketheeswaram temple.  Maravanpulavu is in Northern Sri Lanka and yet Kaviyalagan failed to focus on the facts but distorted them towards his presentation about Indian influence in Sri Lanka. Wikipedia confirms the following about Mr Sachchithananthan:

 [Siva Senai is a political group in Sri Lanka formed to protect the interests of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus formed in October 2016. Maravanpulavu Sachchithananthan, a former United Nations official is the founder of the group, which has received encouragement from the Indian political party Shiv Sena.^[2] Siva Senai spearheaded an initiative in December 2017 to allow Sri Lankan pilgrims to visit Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, India. The group has also actively advocated against cattle slaughter in Sri Lanka.

In 2018, supporters of Siva Senai held protest in Jaffna against cattle slaughter]

 

If Mr Sachchithananthan is classified as Indian – then so should be LTTE leader Prabhakaran who accepted Tamil Nadu leadership and its funds. There are many such politicians in Northern Sri Lanka. They must all be classified as Indians.

 

Kaviyalagan goes on to present the picture that India is influencing the formation of Hindu nationalism as opposed to Tamil nationalism and indicates that as the reason why Mr Rajapaksa and other Buddhist politicians visit Hindu temples. Kaviyalagan claims it as a political strategy. Each one is entitled to form her/his picture and so long as it is based on belief it qualifies  to be presented to public without going through checks and balances. Hence Universal Franchise of democratic vote as opposed to ‘appointments’ which need to go through ‘checks and balances’ as per stated criteria. To present what happened as a fact beyond one’s belief,  one needs the checks and balances that satisfies the intellect. This is the reason why the Separation of Powers between the Judiciary and the Elected government is required. The latter is entitled to express to its electorate on the basis of belief. The Judiciary needs to believe in the law but apply the checks and balances to ensure that ‘facts’ presented are true and relevant. Likewise, the local Tamil population in Sri Lanka is entitled to express as per its belief when sharing locally. When the audience is global, it needs checks and balances to the extent of the diversity in cultures.

When we mind merge through Hindu belief – that alienates non-Hindus. The Jaffna culture that I grew up in and supported me in my global experiences is very much multi-religious. The founding education that Mr Sugash Kanagaratnam received is from Jaffna College which was established and resourced largely by Christians. Multi-religious structures are part of Jaffna fabric and it would be wrong to promote Hindu-nationalism as highlighted by Kaviyalagan. We have fought on the basis of Common Tamil culture – which includes multi-religious fabric. It has facilitated us to integrate with other cultures – especially Christian cultures in our new nations. If that is also the basis of merger with Sinhalese – I welcome that as a true Sri Lankan.