Sunday 4 April 2021

 

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam


04 April 2021

 

 

 

PRESERVING TAMIL SELF-RESPECT

 

Yesterday, I was advised as follows by a Tamil intellectual leader:

 

[There is a proverb in Latin :-SPEAK NOTHING BUT GOOD ABOUT A DEAD PERSON.

(De mortuis nihil nisi bonum).]

 

The above was in response to the following from me:

[M’s status is valuable to many and his service is deeply appreciated by few in Sri Lanka. But in terms of money, that family suffered a lot during and after the war. To me – Communism gained at the expense of traditional family life.]

 

In retaliation I asked the above leader:

 

[Everyone who knew Mr M speaks highly of him – as I do of my relatives. But do you not speak ill of Mr Bandaranaike? The net feeling I have for Mr M is positive.]

 

I was impressed that an Indian leader was also covering this subject matter around the same time – reported as follows:

 

[Polls to decide whether TN will walk on path of dynasty or MGR, says Amit Shah

Amit Shah slammed DMK chief Stalin for his son’s remarks on late Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, and said, "He (Stalin) has forgotten that culture of Tamil Nadu, that stops people from commenting on people who are no more."]

The expressions are reported as follows:

 

[There was a person called Sushma Swaraj. She died due to the pressure exerted by Modi. There was a person called Arun Jaitley. He died due to the torture by Modi.]

 

So why is it wrong to be negative about a person who has passed away?  As per my belief when we add our positive energy to the person who has passed away the return becomes exponential.  Hence the opposite also must be true, in cases where we have negatives or if we express outside the boundaries of belief.  In some instances structural repairs  are needed and hence towards this criticism would remove the excesses of credit at the expense of other members in a common structure.

 

It is interesting to note that caste has also become an election issue in Tamil Nadu. As per the Print:

 

[ The BJP went after the Dalit vote in southern Tamil Nadu by promising to change the name of the Pallar community to Devendrakula Velalar in the SC list.]

 

The effect of this on Sri Lanka could be serious, unless Sri Lanka’s Northern Province stays within its sovereign borders and does not let Tamil Nadu politics influence us. Redevelopment of Jaffna is also being used politically:

 

As per Hindustani Times article ‘PM Modi first Indian PM to visit Jaffna after bombarding on houses, says Nadda in Tamil Nadu’:

 

[Days before polling in Tamil Nadu, BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first PM to visit Jaffna in Sri Lanka where houses were bombarded and got them reconstructed.

The Jaffna area has a majority Tamil population. The area witnessed a brutal civil war between the LTTE and Sri Lankan forces that continued for several years and led to the loss of lives of thousands of people.

"Modi Ji is the first PM to visit Jaffna in Sri Lanka. He visited bombarded houses, got them reconstructed. He also sent Minister of External Affairs of India S Jaishankar to Sri Lanka and ensured that Tamil minorities were safe," he said while addressing a public meeting in Tamil Nadu's Modakurichi.

The BJP president said the shooting on fishermen has stopped after Prime Minister Modi became the PM.]

 

Given that Jaffna is a link between Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils it is important to note the following presented by Wikipedia:

 

[The Pallars along with the Nalavars worship the caste deity Annamar A wooden club is used for offering to the deity, suggesting a warrior cult.]

 

Like in the case of a person, if a longstanding group dies and we speak ill of them, we would inherit their negatives or v.v.  This, to my mind was a big reason for the conflict that has seriously affected Sri Lankan Tamils. As per Wikipedia:

 

[The Pallars migrated to Sri Lanka as serfs accompanied by their chiefs, on whose land they toiled. They migrated in large numbers mainly from Chola country in search of fertile land. Pallars settling in the Jaffna Peninsula, which was rich in Palmyra palm, joined others there involved in toddy tapping. Some Pallars were involved in other occupations, such as fishers, servants in forts, and harvesters of Indigo plant roots, contributing to the famous dye industry of Jaffna Kingdom.

Under colonial rule, castes such as the Pallars, Koviar and Nalavars were originally bonded in service to the colonial state. However, the rise of the Sri Lankan Vellalar under Dutch Ceylon reduced the status of these castes from tenant farmers to Vellalar slaves. The Pallars, Koviar and Nalavars were officially considered Adimaikal (a Tamil term for slave or menial labour). Large numbers of Pallars from the Coromandel Coast were summoned as slaves under this period by private individuals to work in tobacco plantation. After the end of slavery with British rule on the island, the Pallars largely remained as laborers and tenants. In the 20th century, the British recruited Pallars from Tamil Nadu to work in their tea estates. The Pallars and Paraiyars constituted over half of these workers and formed a significant part of the Up-country Tamil population]

 

Given that Tamil Nadu has actively used the caste-card in Politics, it is important to recognize its influence in Northern Province which continues to be at risk of caste becoming an internal division factor. When Sri Lankan Tamils are independent of ‘others’ outside the community’s sovereign borders we are likely to

[Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) was a small militant separatist movement in India. It seeks an independent nation for the Tamil people, and first appeared in the 1980s, when the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) was sent to Sri Lanka. It had its roots in the Naxalite movement, and was headed by Thamizharasan, an engineering student from Ponparappi village.]

 

True Jaffna Tamils would protect our sovereign borders at all times. If we become part of India by becoming dependents on India, we have no one else but ourselves to blame for the suffering of Tamils of Sri Lanka.

 

The best way known to me to override caste based system is to focus on Civil Administration as per Democracy.

No comments:

Post a Comment