Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
04 December 2020
MUSLIM ENERGY & MAHARA PRISON RIOTS
They say that ‘behind every successful man
there stands a woman’.
In Hinduism we call such a woman Shakthi
/ Energy. Taking one individual, one half of the individual needs to be Shakthi
to support great achievement by the other half. In terms of a Nation – where majority
are the face of great achievement minorities need to be recognize as Equals. Hence Equal position for
a minority power that is self-sufficient, through Opposition position in
Parliament. Following is an excerpt from my book:
[Vaddukoddai
(pronounced Vattukottai) being the birthplace of Vaddukoddai Resolution 1976, about which a popular Tamil
website reports as follows:
[The first
National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front meeting at Pannakam
(Vaddukoddai Constituency) on the 14th day of May, 1976, hereby declares
that the Tamils of Ceylon by virtue of their great language, their religions,
their separate culture and heritage, their history of independent existence as
a separate state over a distinct territory for several centuries till they were
conquered by the armed might of the European invaders and above all by their
will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own territory,
are a nation distinct and apart from Sinhalese and this Convention announces to
the world that the Republican Constitution of 1972 has made the Tamils a slave
nation ruled by the new colonial masters, the Sinhalese ,who are using the
power they have wrongly usurped to deprive the Tamil Nation of its territory,
language citizenship, economic life, opportunities of employment and education,
thereby destroying all the attributes of nationhood of the Tamil people.]
as published by www.sangam.org
To my mind, the above was a political declaration on
the basis of the core purpose of
establishing a Separate State within the Nation of Sri Lanka, similar to Quebec
Province in Canada. If there are no firm and continuous boundaries – the ‘Nation’ is abstract and has
no particular ‘State’. It is rather a State of Mind. Given that it was made by Tamil
United Liberation Front (TULF), one is entitled to conclude that it covered the
areas represented by TULF.
In the National Parliamentary Elections that followed in 1977, TULF became
the leading Opposition in National Parliament. Within the TULF, the highest
percentage of votes was polled by the Hon Murugesu Sivasithamparam in the Nallur district. To my mind that outcome confirmed not only the
self-governing heritage of Nallur – where God of Democracy – Murugan - is
strongly worshipped, but also the investment made by the class represented by the
Hon Murugesu Sivasithamparam who was Deputy Speaker of
the House of Representatives of Ceylon when the Hon Dudley Senanayake was Prime
Minister, raised the investment of all to whom Northern Province is home, to
the National level. With that kind of
combination, Northern Province will always be self-governing. One does not need
anyone else to endorse it. Nor does one need to shrink it through Separatism. One who seeks to separate confirms lower mind.
Belief is
expressed by different persons and groups in diverse forms. Mine in Jaffna is
depicted through the above picture. The above resolution was interpreted by
armed militants in a different form to the politicians who gave birth to it.
It’s like the dual-citizenship issue currently (2018) being faced by the
Australian Parliament. The depth of our investment in an issue determines the
strength of the base of our reception.
When Tamils became the Equal Opposition in
Parliament in 1977, to my mind, that manifestation upheld the Political form as
expressed by Tamil Politicians. Such manifestation despite Tamils being a
minority group as per headcount, confirmed to me that Tamils were supported by
Natural forces. It confirmed also the need for us to make declarations of
belief to earn such support from that land itself. ]
Where Sri Lankan Muslims believed in burial of the
dead AND they declared it in their home environments, the Buddhist government
has the natural right to oppose it but not override it. Only a secular
government common to both has the authority to make laws on common basis and
use them on equal footing.
As per Ceylon Today
report headed ‘Preserve the bodies of 11 Mahara prisoners
including 9 COVID-19 positive: Motion filed in Court’:
[A motion was filed before the
Wattala/Welisara Magistrate’s Court yesterday (2) in connection with the deaths
of 11 prisoners at the Mahara Prison on 29 November, requesting Court to ensure
criminal justice by preserving the physical evidence from being destroyed,
especially the bodies of the dead including those of the nine who were found
COVID-19 positive. The motion was filed by Chairman of the Committee for
Protecting the Rights of Prisoners, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera, and
Attorney-at-Law Namal Rajapaksha made submissions before Wattala/Welisara
Magistrate Buddhika C. Ragala. The hearing related to the inquest is to be
taken up again tomorrow (04). ]
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