Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
04 December 2020
WHOSE HEROES – YOURS OR MINE?
Long time ago, when I was working
at Air Lanka, our Advertising Executive who returned from a holiday in Male,
shared his amusing experience with me. He said that he was approached by a Sikh
who asked him ‘Are you from Motherland?’ My colleague had responded ‘Whose
Motherland – yours or mine? I recall that from time to time, in virtual reality
mode, and smile to myself.
Today when I read the Daily Mirror
Editorial’s caption ‘Our true heroes must be
celebrated’ the
question that popped into my mind was ‘Whose heroes – yours or mine?’.
The Editor introduces us to the
topic as follows:
[Just a week ago Tamil civilians were denied
of the assistance of the law when they were unsuccessful in filing four
petitions in the Jaffna Court requesting the green light to proceed with a
ceremony to commemorate their loved ones who perished during the civil war. ]
…
The loved ones of the Tamils, who perished in the war, wanted three days to
commemorate their ‘war heroes’ and similarly the JVP wanted November 13 to
celebrate their dead colleagues who threw their weight behind a struggle to
free the nation from Indian forces who were here in Sri Lanka and the
dictatorial regime led by the UNP.
The LTTE and the JVP were both banned movements at some time for being
disruptive. But the JVP is allowed or tolerated because its leaders or
‘Sahodarayas’ are Sinhalese. But if you take both movements they had moved away
from the frame of democracy and took the law into their hands. And most
importantly they both wanted one culture to dominate and form a regime. There
were times when the LTTE’s word was law in the north and the JVP controlled the
south; during the late 1980s.]
Both JVP and the LTTE killed
members of their own respective ethnic
groups. A just law/policy applies on Equal footing to every member of a
sovereign group. So long as a group is bound by ‘belief’ the sharing of feelings
and disciplinary actions are confidential. Once these are done transparently –
they become ‘relative’ to that extent. That is when we need written laws to
maintain justice.
LTTE’s word was enforced as law
beyond this circle of belief. It was
relative through rewards and punishments. By killing Tamil Politicians, the
LTTE specifically separated themselves from mainstream Tamils who sought to
govern ourselves through the democratic pathway. More importantly they cut off
the connection with the political roots of the Tamil People who made the
Vaddukoddai Declaration which invoked the
blessings of gods on Tamils as Equals in National Parliament. This can never be through the armed pathway,
unless majority Tamils wanted autocracy under Armed Rulers.
To the extent Tamils identify with LTTE
that has merged with Political groups such as the Tamil National Alliance, they
would consider the LTTE as their protectors from the excesses of the Sri Lankan
Armed Forces that in reality include a good proportion of members who lack
discipline. That was a huge lesson learnt
through the Black July experience in 1983. Each time there is a Sinhala Buddhist
government in power, the Tamil reliance on ‘De Facto Forces’ would increase.
Such memorials are valid to the
extent they are ‘common’ to all those who fought for independence and died in
the cause. When LTTE heroism is separately celebrated, we celebrate also the
killing of politicians and therefore Democracy. This weakens Tamils as well as
Sri Lanka as a whole.
The Editor confirms as follows. such
a role played by the JVP :
[JVP wanted
November 13 to celebrate their dead colleagues who threw their weight behind a
struggle to free the nation from Indian forces who were here in Sri Lanka ]
As per my knowledge – the LTTE also helped the then
government in this mission.
If JVP is allowed ‘ celebrate their dead colleagues’
– then that confirms that the approving authority seeks to be Autocratic Armed
Ruler or that it realises the need for such de facto power, should India invade
Sri Lanka. The Tamil parallel of the Indian Government for Sinhalese is the
Sinhalese Government.
To the extent
a section of Tamils joined the LTTE which was largely to defend the community
against armed, unlawful Sinhalese, they are a sovereign group. They have the
right to celebrate their heroes within their own boundaries. To the extent it
is belief based – it would be confidential.
But not all Tamils seek this. They have the right to
the protection of the Government Forces and hence the right to have no
knowledge of such celebrations which would dilute their confidence in the
Government Forces. Whether these forces are disciplined or not – we need to
accept the limitations and supplement the forces through our own resistance to
unlawful conduct. When we participate in National Elections, this is our
commitment to commonness. In a just system, we would get the return when we
need the protection. If the system is unjust we need to correct the system and
not abandon it. Celebrating an alternate armed force is confirmation that we
have given up on the official forces.
Those who seek to ‘show’ are confirming that they
lack the strength of sovereignty. The constitution provides for belief based
expressions under the fundamental rights chapter. ‘A
ceremony to commemorate their loved ones who perished during the civil war’ -
includes Politicians and who were killed by the LTTE or JVP as the case may be.
Those Politicians and Democratic civilians belong to another circle of belief /
planet. When one claims to represent
both – that confirms that we are not a sovereign group. Then the claim is that
both groups fought for relativity – seniority to dictate.
Belief is Nirvana. True Buddhists would not seek to
enforce their way on others, but facilitate others to join them when there is a
need. Likewise those who are genuinely
fighting for the community as a whole. If LTTE members seek to mourn their
loved ones – they have every right to do so as a family and as a private group.
They have no moral right to celebrate publicly.
The dangers of exceeding our powers of belief to
‘show’ funerals was confirmed by ‘Black July’ – reported as follows by
Wikipedia:
[The Army—including its commander, Tissa Weeratunga—decided that
the soldiers' funerals shouldn't be held in Jaffna because of
the high likelihood of disturbances at multiple locations. The decision
was made to hold the funerals, with full military honours, at Kanatte Cemetery, Colombo's main burial
ground, instead. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, fearing
violence, was against holding the funeral in Colombo, but was overruled
by President J.
R. Jayewardene. The president, the prime minister, and the rest of
the cabinet were to
attend the funeral, which was to take place at 5 pm on 24 July. This arrangement went against the standard
procedure of handing over fallen soldiers to their families for burial in their
home villages]
Standing procedures are visible
expressions of the consolidated Energies of all rulers. By failing to recognise
the Democratic manifestation of the 1977 Elections in which Tamils became
Equal partners in Parliament, Mr Jayawardene crowned himself the President.
When there is a true manifestation, it needs to rendered ‘visible form’ and not suppressed so one would
take the credit. By crowning himself as President, Mr Jayawardene also facilitated
the Tamil parallel to be President. Hence the LTTE actions which resulted in
the above killings. Mr Jayawardene and his government became the Equal of the LTTE which ‘showed’ its might by
abandoning the common law. Abandoning standard procedure is to cut ourselves
off from our Administrative heritage. This caused Mr Jayawardene to go down in
history as the President who submitted to India through the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution through which Indian leaders continue to apply
pressure on Sri Lankan government.
That which is common confirms blessings;
when separated the elders within curse us.
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