Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

14 June 2021

 

 

100 CITIES – DOWRY OR DONATION ?

 

[A proposal to beautify 100 cities across Sri Lanka, tabled by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Urban Development and Housing, has received Cabinet approval.

Under the ‘Hundred Cities’ programme, the Government intends to beautify 100 cities in the country that have been identified as causing inconvenience to the public due to unorganized development.

The Government will convert the identified cities into public friendly and beautified cities by taking necessary steps according to a proper plan.

Cabinet approval has been granted for the implementation of the programme with the assistance of all the Government sector institutions and all other parties entrusted with the supply of infrastructure facilities.

The programme will aim at systematically beautifying 100 recognized cities scattered throughout the island by enhancing their fundamental facilities.] (NewsWire)

Tamil Diaspora leaders are expressing anxiety that it is part of the  ‘colonization’ program pursued by the government. Some specifically mentioned the areas bordering the North-Eastern junction. The US resolution in relation to Sri Lanka’s North and East being Traditional Tamil Homelands was declared on 18 May 2021. Truth can be declared by any believer. The 100 cities program if based on belief would naturally oppose the US Resolution to the extent the latter is also based on belief through global principles. If either  is based on political profit – it is likely to lead to another war – this time more global due to American involvement. That is likely to benefit Tamils more than the local war.

As stated previously, our belief in the theory through which  measure a problem is important. When we therefore believe in global laws we would get even at global level. The current government used local measures that Sinhalese were comfortable with and hence isolated their community.

I realised this truth through my experiences here in Australia through Equal Opportunity laws. I did not apply the law to ‘win’ and hence ended up owning the law through belief. The pain of losing in courts through clever lawyers strengthened my belief because I did not take revenge in any way nor did I give up by accepting offer of ‘out of court settlement’.

Later, in Jaffna – the home of Thesawamai law – I became the law through absorption of the pain of defeat. Thesawalamai law – in terms of inheritance, separates the population on gender basis. Hence daughters inherit from mothers and sons from fathers. The true inheritance is the value itself. Tamil TV presenter Kuna Kaviyalahan refers to post war approach as being Sithantham / Ideology based.  To win, we need to win more minds than our current opposition. The rest will happen as per each contributor’s home environment.

Sithantham is presented as the end of knowledge based research. One who shares such discovery with the group that s/he is natural part of – contributes exponentially to such a win.

As per the knowledge shared by the Tamil Diaspora, the 100 cities project would be managed at local government level. As per my experience in Northern Sri Lanka, the more we invest privately the more independent we are of the local government. To the extent we believe in global laws of Equal Opportunity the greater the current opportunity to develop locally through employment of Tamils on the basis of global laws. One of the most outstanding examples in this regard is Jetwing, Jaffna. Every experience completed there to the satisfaction of a global minded customer is Jaffna’s investment in global standards.

This is better explained through the Thesawalamai law Sithantham in terms of dowry. Until recently, when we had a family dispute over the inheritance of a bachelor brother’s intestate estate – I did not appreciate the deeper value of Thesawalamai law. But I developed deeper appreciation of Jaffna Tamil ancestors from whom we inherited Thesawalamai law – through this judicial matter – in which the daughters who did receive dowry claimed that they were given a donation and not dowry. The ‘settlement’ of Sinhalese in areas that have been traditionally Tamil areas is the parallel of donation. It amounts to ‘compensation’ for lack of ownership in that area. When dowry is shared with the daughter who gets married – it recognizes the homemaking skills that the daughter has developed with her biological family. The real value is the certification of the skills. Donation is of negative value and is given to compensate for lack of homemaking skills.

The way 100 cities program happens will tell us whether it is dowry from their home areas or donation to compensate for lack of homemaking skills in the areas from which they have come. If dowry – they will contribute to developing Sri Lankan children. If donation they could easily be demoted by the more skilled owner of that area who would have global support.