Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
08 January 2021
KALI
RIDING THE TIGER & SARASWATHI RIDING THE SWAN?
The
upcoming UNHRC session seems to be important to many Diaspora Tamils as well as
Tamil Parliamentarians in Sri Lanka. The visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar indicates
that it is important to India also. As per Financial Times report headed ‘TNA to support President to build
an inclusive SL’ :
[TNA MP
M.A. Sumanthiran told Parliament on Wednesday that he thanked the Indian
External Affairs Minister for his remarks supporting the reconciliation process
and devolution in the country. Dr. Jaishankar in his remarks on Wednesday said
it is in Sri Lanka’s own interest that the expectations of the Tamil people for
equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled.]
TNA represents Tamil heritage, whilst some other Tamil
politicians are making ‘history’ that opposes Sinhala Buddhist history.
In his academic paper ‘Time
and space in the Sri Lanka-Tamil diaspora’ Dr Oivind Fuglerud of Norway presents the
difference as follows:
[The internal tensions among Tamil exiles may
be understood as a struggle over two different models of culture (Fuglerud
1999). The `traditional model' in exile upheld and articulated mainly by the
early migrant workers, centres on hierarchical relationships of age, gender and
social origin (`caste'). The `revolutionary model', propagated by the LTTE,
envisages Tamil Eelam the traditional
Tamil homeland and future liberated Tamil state as based upon the principle of
all members being equal under the enlightened leadership of their own
organisation.]
To
my mind – this is roughly the difference between Equality and Equal
Opportunity. Former is transparent and is physically observable, whilst latter is
known, including intuitively through experience of the hierarchical structure.
While
the caste system was part of the basis of social hierarchy, to the extent it
was based on the category of work, it was positive and is not different to the
secular hierarchy based on merit .
Dr
Oivind Fuglerud presents his understanding as follows:
[Vellalars will
readily admit to their shudra (service) origin (Pfaffenberger 1982), while the fishing
Karayars claim a Kshatriya (warrior) status (Sivaram 1992). In fact one may
argue that the liberation struggle of the LTTE plays upon a cultural ambiguity:
while to the outside audience one goal of this struggle is presented as
eradicating external and internal oppression, in reading their Tamil propaganda,
meant for internal consumption, one is left to wonder if the real aim is not to
restore the Karayars to their rightful place in society. In an article in the
official LTTE newspaper on the making of
the Tiger insignia into the `national flag' of Tamil Eelam, we read:
The
Tiger insignia is an image rooted in Dravidian civilisation. It is a symbol
that illustrates the martial history and national upheaval of the Tamils. Our
national flag is the symbol of the independent state of Tamil Eelam to be created, rooted in the
martial traditions of the Tamils (Viduthalai Pulihal , February 1991: 3).
In
short, the `traditional model' of Tamil culture, by the ones who propagate it,
is seen as a timeless state of affairs where the symbolic unity of sex, age and
caste is reproduced through ritual, in particular the ritual of marriage. The `revolutionary model', on the other
hand, has a conception of history: the need to recover what has been lost
through outside influence locates this model in linear time.]
I identify with most of the above, including the ‘rituals
of marriage’. Due to recognizing Equality rather than Equal Opportunity, the
LTTE deployed women in combat which would have been a no-no as per the heritage
in which Vellala women were home-makers. The fact that women headed women is
confirmed by Theswalamai law specific to Jaffna Tamils . This law clearly
distinguishes that when it came to heritage – one recognises Equal Opportunity
and not Equality. In terms of current earnings, equality is recognized.
The Hindu epic Mahabharatham presents the Kshatriyas/Warriors as the lead caste.
Their women were highly respected and the blessings of senior women were obtained
by sons before they went to the battlefield. Women were considered the
repository of Energy – the highest wealth that connects the family to Universal
power.
Dr
Fuglerud presents his understanding as follows:
[The
precondition is that her sexuality is controlled, bound and directed to the
creation of order (Wadley 1980). The auspiciousness, therefore, is not a
consequence of her femaleness as such but depends on her relationship to
others: before marriage on her being controlled by her father, after marriage
on her loyalty to her husband. Chastity(katpu) to the Sumankali (eternal
wife) is unconditional and is symbolised by the thali , the gold ornament
which her husband ties around her neck at the wedding and which should not be
taken off until his death. The tying of the thali is the symbolic core of
the marriage ritual and is what legitimises sexual union, confers upon the wife
a code of obedience, and in a sense entrusts her with the prosperity and
well-being of the family. The concept of `katpu', however, has a wider reference than conjugal
fidelity in the strict sense. It refers to a code of social conduct, in which the segregation of sexes and a restricted behaviour of women are central
elements, a code expressing itself in an extreme female prudishness. `Shyness, timidity,
ignorance, passiveness, obedience are regarded as ideal patterns of behaviour, or rather, the essential qualities of ``femininity'' ascribed to
virtuous women' writes Adele Ann (1994: 56), an LTTE intellectual, marriedto the organisation's long-time political advisor Anton Balasingham. TheLTTE
as an organisation rejects this feminine ideal. It also rejects the institution
of dowry, which among Sri Lanka-Tamils must be seen as the inherent material
aspect of the institution of marriage itself. Dowry is what legitimises the hierarchies
of sex, age and caste (Fuglerud 1999) or, put the other way around, without an
agreement on dowry between the parents of the couple the marriage is not validated.
The LTTE's position on women in itself marks it as a revolutionarymovement.
Since 1983 a separate section for women, the `Women's Front of the
Liberation Tigers', has been working within the organisation. Among the goals
of this Front, as formulated in 1991, is to abolish the dowry system, to eliminate
all sexual discrimination, and to ensure Tamil women have control over their
own lives (Schalk 1992). By undermining the principles of age and gender
hierarchy, the implementation of these goals would entail not only a change in
the situation of women as such but a change in the entire fabric of the
Sri Lanka-Tamil society. Concerning the third principle mentioned, caste, all
caste practices have been banned through LTTE's own penal code of 1994and
violations are prosecuted in courts administered by judges appointed by the
organisation]
This is where the separation began happening. They
failed to inherit the Kshatriya Dharma of treating women as Shakthi / Energy,
within the organization and started ‘showing’ Equal status to outsiders. A
chaste woman empowers those who respect her. Towards this – the woman is ‘protected’
from external challenges. The dowry is
such a protection to a woman against discrimination on the basis of money.
Dr Fuglerud
reveals:
[The light in which migrant workers saw their
early years in Norway is very different from the way later refugees
contextualise their experiences. Inspite
of the fact that most early migrants saw
themselves as having to leave their home country, they had no wish to seek
asylum. On the contrary, having struggled to clear their own paths in
unknown territory, often investing in the lengthy acquisition of language and
professional skills, some of them calling their children by Norwegian names,
many deplore the coming of the asylum- seekers, their lack of education and what they see as disrespect toward
Norwegian society. In those days they were accepted if working hard and behaving decently. People would invite them home, inquiring about SriLanka
and Tamil culture. By demonstrating a willingness to work, it was also possible
to find a job for their brother, cousin or nephew. This is changed now, they
say, but the worst part is that they themselves helped to change it. The people
they brought here show no respect any more, not to Norwegians and not to themselves. Their own relatives,
whose tickets they paid for, have become strangers to them. The war and chaos
have made them a different people. `The tragedy of our people is the
indifference of our young', one early migrant explained to me:
The
asylum-seekers will never learn the real value of things. Education and learning
used to be our trademark. We studied because our success brought glory to our
family and our people. Today they can go to the West and get everything for
free. An asylum-seeker being settled today will be given for free what I struggled twenty years toachieve.
They have become corrupt. ]
I fully identify with this through my own family
experience. But I also have the courage of Kali who rides the Tiger. Hence I
write regularly and from time to time my work gets published. I feel strongly
that today’s sharing was empowered by my participation in the book launch of - National Conflict and International
Intervention: A Media Discourse – by Dr Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan Head, Department
of English - the University of Jaffna –
Vavuniya Campus.
When I
went in 2009 to Vavuniya so I could share in the pain of victims, I found the
above 2009 calendar with Goddess Saraswathi in the house I stayed at. It’s only
today that I made the connection to Saraswathi on the Swan. I still do not know whether as per Tamil
Heritage Kali who tamed the Tiger has become Saraswathi or whether the picture
meant that the 2009 battle was the Swansong of the Tigers – which is being sung
at UNHRC. But I do believe that my work will be valuable to a true seeker.
The
Sinhala community also has had his revolutionaries leading the community to
write history instead of identifying with heritage. They may learn from the
period of harmony when the educated Sri Lankans were facilitated to lead. In democracy, Minorities are the driving force
behind a successful government . A government that has the blessings of
minorities who carry their heritage will naturally succeed through Equal
Opportunity values.
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