Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

21 December   2021

 

 

WHOSE DISCIPLINE – MILITANTS OR MILITARY?

 

[The rule of law and discipline are coterminous. The government does not seem to care to make good on its promise to restore the rule of law. When Lohan Ratwatte, as the State Minister for Prisons, barged into a state pen and held some former LTTE cadres at gunpoint, a few moons ago, the people expected him to face the full force of the law and be sacked from the government. The President should have intervened to have him arrested and hauled up before courts.]

Let us say that the President does discipline Mr Ratwatte. Then would the government have the strength to oppose LTTE who act as per their own laws? Did the Island discipline the Government when government forces reported to wider world that the LTTE were effectively ‘the most ruthless group ’ in the world? If they did, I have no knowledge of it. All I know is that if they acted as per their conscience in war – then one has to use the pathway of Truth according to which ‘All is fair in war.’ If one is overregulated the excess is due to desire which comes naturally with fear. This fear confuses the mind and depresses its balance. Hence here in Australia, we seek to be ‘Fair’ so we would love.

Most government recruits during war would not have known the law and that was the advantage over others who had knowledge of law. The law abiding military officer is likely to die in a battle against a free fighter – leave alone one who has openly acted in breach of the law. The outstanding example in Mahabharatham is young Prince Abimanyu who followed the law and was ruthlessly butchered by his uncles who acted in breach of all rules of war.

The Rajapaksa regime had its share of Asuras and without them – they would easily be taken over by Mighty India. As per the Editor:

[What has been ailing Sri Lanka all these decades boils down to one thing—overall indiscipline, which has eaten into the vitals of the State, and not spared any institution, public or private. Inculcating discipline is therefore half the battle in ushering in national progress. It was for this purpose that the people elected President Rajapaksa, a former frontline combat officer known for his fetish for discipline and systems. Their expectations were very high, and they thought he would be different from his predecessors, especially his elder brother, Mahinda, who as the President, suffered many an undisciplined political dreg gladly. But it turned out to be another false dawn, and the people’s optimism has given way to despair; their resentment is palpable.]

The Tamil saying is ‘Ohttappam Veettai Chudum’/The Appam in the tile would burn the house’. In effect is ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’. Voters are entitled to the government they have invested in, when they are unsupervised. It is this that renders them the ‘Right’ to expect. The delivery happens through the system of Belief.

This President sought strong Administrative Authority – because he knew his own forces. That was the confirmation that the gap in belief in law and belief in the fellow citizen was wide. Where the gap is narrow the system manages itself.

Those who were not punished are the demons / Asuras who steal the outcomes produced by genuine law abiding military officers. It was quite common for dictators to keep them as their Phoothams/Goblins in their secret forces. Given the possibility of India training militants again – the government needs such Phoothams. One who seeks to be a gentleman in Sri Lanka will be gobbled up by these Poothams. The blessing for us is that the LTTE cadre did not retaliate. THAT is the real victory for Tamils who confirm connection with law abiding elders.