Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

12 August   2021

 

Tamil Policy

[As time went on Ketheesh Loganathan became one more statistic in the lengthy list of deaths caused by the protracted ethnic conflict. His memory however will always be evergreen in the hearts and minds of his family, friends, comrades and colleagues.

There are people whose deaths diminish all of us. Their departure leaves us sad and shattered. The loss is not to the nearest and dearest alone but to all of humanity. The death of Ketheeswaran “Ketheesh” Loganathan was one such instance. With his departure, one more Tamil who wanted his people to live with equal rights in a united Lanka and championed that cause in the face of danger has been done away with.] DBS Jeyaraj in FT article Remembering Ketheeswaran “Ketheesh” Loganathan

 

Very sad and deeply touching tribute. It feels as if multicultural Tamil was killed by Native Tamil elevated by Indian power. We Tamils did go wrong somewhere to have allowed the development of Tamil killing Tamil. As per my inner search I brought out the following in response to a Tamil Diaspora group that seemed concerned about the article headed ‘It is Time for India to Invade the North-East of Sri Lanka: My full response is the Appendix

[Most Tamils known to me at personal level – need a structure with firm boundaries to follow. During the war, majority Tamils kept their distance – largely due to lack of overall plan. The fact that Vaddukoddai Resolution is now ‘forgotten’ confirms this. Now majority Diaspora Tamils gather for their own purposes and indulge in blame-games – externally as well as internally. Mr Wigneswaran in your list has been so targeted. Recently – it was Mahatma  Gandhi by an American Tamil who claimed that Tamil Nadu would separate from India. They pay charity-money and assume the higher position through assumed ‘freedom’. Some others trade in ‘information’. ]

You have for example referred to the Tamil Nadu CM as ‘Servile Stalin’. A true Jaffna Tamil would process current information through the position structure that has withstood the test of time. The law of Thesawalamai confirms that Equality of Gender was practiced by Jaffna Tamils over a long period of time. As per that customary law – Muthusum and Dowry are more valuable than Thediya Thettam (current earnings). This is because of the less visible values in that equation. They represent the blessings of elders in family life. Their contributions come with us as the Thesawalamai code. Those who are ‘native’ to Jaffna would know whether we are so blessed – by identifying with the essence of the law. There are no other rights and wrongs for such a native person. Their value is exponential.]

In essence, when we get a handout – we tend to disturb the pathway to independence. As per my knowledge of Hindu philosophy – what we do must not harm others. Physical death in combat - through structured pathway is not morally wrong. But killing outside the common pathway damages the whole group – in this instance – the Sri Lankan Tamil community. The LTTE hijacked the Black July agenda, with the aid of India. To the extent we took  handouts from India, outside our circle of belief - they  are not different to the government receiving money from China, beyond common belief that binds Sri Lankans to Chinese.

India had its own reasons but as a Tamil I believe that we Common Tamils were ‘used’ by juniors in our cultural hierarchy to satisfy their own agendas. As in the above irresponsible statement each person / section of the armed group had her/his own interpretation and acted accordingly. Most killings were due to their own laws which were NOT underpinned by belief in the community. Really sad indeed.

 

 

Appendix

Most Tamils known to me at personal level – need a structure with firm boundaries to follow. During the armed war majority Tamils kept their distance – largely due to lack of overall plan – as per the laws they / we were familiar with . The fact that Vaddukoddai Resolution is now ‘forgotten’ confirms this. Now majority Diaspora Tamils gather for their own purposes and indulge in blame-games – externally as well as internally. Mr Wigneswaran in your list has been so targeted. Recently – it was Mahatma  Gandhi by an American Tamil who claimed that Tamil Nadu would separate from India. They pay charity-money and assume the higher position through assumed ‘freedom’. Some others trade in ‘information’.

 

You have for example referred to the Tamil Nadu CM as ‘Servile Stalin’. A true Jaffna Tamil would process current information through the position structure that has withstood the test of time. The law of Thesawalamai confirms that Equality of Gender was practiced by Jaffna Tamils over a long period of time. As per that customary law – Muthusum/heritage  and Dowry are more valuable than Thediya Thettam (current earnings). This is because of the less visible values in that equation. They represent the blessings of elders in family life. Their contributions come with us as the Thesawalamai code. Those who are ‘native’ to Jaffna would know whether we are so blessed – by identifying with the essence of the law. There are no other measure to know - rights and wrongs for such a native person. Their value is exponential. They like Vedas are perfectly balanced and sustain the equilibrium of the Energies that make up the heritage. Like Vedas they can be chanted but not reasoned.

 

Likewise, the position of CM of Tamil Nadu. Once when I criticised the Jaffna Judiciary in terms of their lack of commitment to Thesawalamai law – and mentioned Mr Wigneswaran also – Mr Wigneswaran wrote back and wanted to know where he had erred ? I said not as a judge but that it happened during his time as CM. But now when you are critical of Tamil Nadu CM – he has remained silent. When we genuinely respect the law made by our predecessors  - we invoke the Energy that went into forming the law . Being Energy,  it takes the form needed by us. The older the law in practice, the less the apparent the logic and greater the power.

 

You state:

 

[Dr. A. J. Wilson emeritus professor, political science , Peradeniya university wrote a thoughtful piece when he had been attached to the university of New Brunswick. ( he was the son in law SJV ) . He said that , at a certain stage during the initial period of the N/E Tamil militancy, Indira Gandhi  permitted the rebel groups to be trained in India for two main reasons. The first was at that time she took Tamilnadu politics seriously and she had been a leading figure in regional politics. Hindu India would stand to gain if there was an autonomous Tami, largely Hindu entity in N/E Sri Lanka . The second reason had been that JR had,  at a May Day rally in Colombo at which Morarji Desai 

Was the chief guest., insulted Indira Gandhi & son Sanjay Gandhi. ( he was alive at the time ) . Intelligence agencies revealed that Indira Gandhi had moved part of her defence services towards the South. Divisions of the  Army, Navy & Air Force. Sri Lankan intelligence had been made aware of this intimidatory gesture. There was consternation but the invasion did not take place. Dr. Wilson concluded by stating that it was a moot point whether Indira Gandhi had really an intention to  invade , or whether she had felt that a threat would suffice for JR to cow down.]

 

In this above narrative, the verifiable fact is “that Indira Gandhi had moved part of her defence services towards the South”

 

The rest is how each person/group interpreted. Some of it like that of Professor Wilson’s which would be interpreted by his expertise in Political science. There is very little input from a Commoner’s reception through her/his side of the theory. Hence why is this contribution better than that of the author of  the article ‘It is Time for India to Invade the North-East of Sri Lanka’ published by Einpresswire at

It is Time for India to Invade the North-East of Sri Lanka. (einpresswire.com) . To majority folks in Jaffna – this would be double Dutch

 

 

Regards

Gajalakshmi