31 August 2022

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

 

6^TH AMENDMENT WAS ULTRA VIRES

Following is an excerpt from chapter ‘Heirs’ my current book:

A true heir ‘believes’ in the ancestor. To the extent of such belief, one becomes a  natural heir. When there is no belief – the heir-apparent is mere custodian of the visible part of any wealth of the person who developed that wealth. They may seem totally unrelated to the predecessor/senior,  but to the extent they believe, they are natural heirs. Political groups are facilitated by law, to govern on that basis. Without belief, there is no moral authority to govern. The closer one is biologically, to the leader, the more relative the relationship would be. The further one is biologically, to the leader, the greater the tendency towards exponential spread of leadership powers.

In traditional Hindu culture, the young wife is encouraged to value the husband’s side proactively. This means his family and their values become hers and she has no identity of her own. Then the value of her work becomes invisible Energy. To the extent she ‘sacrifices’ the personal credit and its benefits for the Common culture, she develops ‘intuitive intelligence’ that has exponential spread. One with intuitive intelligence carries the exponential potential Energy – which to my mind is ‘belief’. It indicates from within, our own strengths. The path of the woman is also the path of minority communities in a nation. They become the reservoirs of belief. They have ‘Intuitive Energy’ to the extent they make equal or greater contribution as majority, to common governance. The more they seek to ‘show’ – the more they become like majority and therefore their ‘juniors’. If separation is claimed beyond the level needed to defend one’s sovereignty, minorities lose this intuitive power.

Prescriptive rights and Native titles are examples of this special power of ‘belief’. In Sri Lanka, Vaddukoddai Resultion 1976, was to defend the independence of the Tamil culture. Not so the armed rebellion, dominated by males who sought to ‘show’ and thereby weakened its intuitive power.

The 6^th Amendment to the Constitution was out of ‘fear’. This means there was ‘desire’ that was enjoyed prior to that. Sinhala only as National language was already in the Constitution as follows:

18. [(1)The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.]

The 13^th Amendment to the constitution, gave form to Tamil also being an official language. But that happened in 1987.

At the time of the 6^th Amendment, the following constitutional right was recognised through article 14 (1) (f), under Fundamental Rights:

Every citizen is entitled to –

(f) the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote his own culture and to use his own language;

Hence the Vaddukoddai Resolution which was to defend the Sovereignty of Tamil community, was also to defend the Constitutional rights stated in article 14(1) (f).

The 6^th Amendment which came into existence on 08 August 1983, included the following:

[(1) No person shall, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.

(2) No political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.

(3) Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions of paragraph (1) shall, on conviction by the Court of Appeal, after trial on indictment and according to such procedure as may be prescribed by law,

(a) be subject to civic disability for such period not exceeding seven years as may be determined by such Court

(b) forfeit his movable and immovable property other than such property as is determined by an order of such Court as being necessary for the sustenance of such person and his family ;

(c) not be entitled to civic rights for such period not exceeding seven years as may be determined by such Court ; and

(d) if he is a Member of Parliament or  person in such service or holding such office as is referred to in paragraph (l) of Article 165, cease to be such Member or to be in such service or to hold such office]

‘State’ means a Nation in this context. Article 14(1) (f)  facilitates the establishment of such a States of  belief to protect the Sovereign Borders of belief of every cultural group.  The 6^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution therefore is ultra vires Article 14(1) (f).

 

In Sri Lanka, we had the Bandaranaike family and the Rajapaksa family in Political leadership. Their family influence was extended to National level, and hence shrunk the nation’s mind to family level. Hence the shrinking economy which confirms the mind of the rulers. When family ways are stretched to national level, those outside family borders are left out of the government’s abilities – including to earn money. It is the Opposite of the Hindu culture which promotes Equality of women through an independent pathway.

The parallel of the Hindu woman, in a democratic parliament is the Opposition. The Sri Lankan Parliament failed the people because of weak Opposition. Any Opposition, including by civilian protest groups would need to have contributed at Equal or higher level than the Government, to earn the support of Natural powers from other sovereign groups. An Opposition with intuitive intelligence would naturally spread itself faster than the government driven by the stated power of human law.

 

 

30 August 2022

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

 

BUDDHIST HINDU MERGER

The value of my article ‘PTA & JAFFNA LIBRARY KARMA’ was known almost immediately. A senior member of the Tamil diaspora responded as follows:

‘கவியரசு கண்ணதாசன் சொன்னது 'நடந்ததை என்னி கவலைப்பட்டால் அவன் ஒரு மடையன், போடா வருவது வரட்டும் என்பவனே நல்ல ரசிகன் அவன் இவனே இவன் அவனே.

நடந்தவை நடந்தவிகாவே இருக்கட்டும் இனி நடப்பதையும் பாதிக்கப்பட்டோர்களை எவ்விதம் எம்மால் உதவமுடியும் என நினைப்போம்’

Translation: According to Great Poet Kannathasan – ‘one who worries about what happened is a fool. One who does not fear the outcomes enjoys life. So let us focus on how we can help those affected.

 

I responded in common as follows:

There is ‘what happened’ that gives structure. Let us take the following response:

 

Tamil 2 : உண்மைதான், திருப்பித் திருப்பி அதையே அலம்புவதிலும் கண்ணீர் விடுவதிலும் காலத்தைச் செலவழித்து ஒன்றையும் அடையப் போவதில்லை.]

 

Gaja: This indicates that when we cry it is to expect something in return.

When I cry, it is because it eases my pain and feeling of loneliness. I can’t remember ever crying because I expected a return at the visible level.

When I cry without expectations, it is a prayer.

 

This brings us to the following:

Tamil 1: பாதிக்கப்பட்டோர்களை எவ்விதம் எம்மால் உதவமுடியும் என நினைப்போம் 

Gaja: In terms of Jaffna Library, my contribution to those affected is to write my own experiences – which eventually become books. My book ‘Naan Australian’ is for all migrant minorities and it was this truth that carried it to National Library of Australia. Given that none of you even asked to read it, I conclude that none of you felt discrimination pain as migrants. Tamils as well as Sinhalese are migrant Sri Lankans. If you therefore do not feel the pain – then it means YOU do not need a political solution. This means you  are the middle class which easily changes its identity to assimilate. In comparison, below is response from a True Buddhist:

[You are 'spot on' Gaja!

In Buddha Dhamma it is known as 'Ditta Dhamma Vedaneeya Khamma'.

Thank you for highlighting these atrocities.]

I looked up ‘'Ditta Dhamma Vedaneeya Khamma’.

It says ‘karma bearing fruit in this present life’

 

My response to him was:

[Thank you Xxxx. It is you also in me who writes]

This means our minds are already merged. In other words - நான் பேச நினைப்பதெல்லாம் நீ பேச வேண்டும்  (I think and you speak)- written by the great Kannadasan who says also:

 

நான் காணும்
உலகங்கள் நீ காண
வேண்டும் நீ காண
வேண்டும்

You must see the world I see

நீ காணும்
பொருள் யாவும்
நானாக வேண்டும்
நானாக வேண்டும்

The matter you see must become me

சொல் என்றும்
மொழி என்றும் பொருள்
என்றும் இல்லை பொருள்
என்றும் இல்லை
There is nothing called word, language or their particular meaning

சொல்லாத
சொல்லுக்கு விலை
ஏதும் இல்லை விலை
ஏதும் இல்லை

The unspoken word is invaluable

ஒன்றோடு
ஒன்றாக உயிர் சேர்ந்த
பின்னே உயிர் சேர்ந்த
பின்னே
When our lives become One

உலகங்கள்
நமையன்றி வேறேதும்
இல்லை வேறேதும்
இல்லை

There is no other world but only ours

Gaja concludes: My writing is for this merger.

 

 

29 August 2022

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

 

PTA & JAFFNA LIBRARY KARMA

The business mind says that time is money. If true, the reverse also must hold good. In other words, money is the visible form of time. Hence, in confidential aspects of a relationship, time spent together is confirmation of ownership. Place is confirmation of long term ownership – as in heritage. Where a place of heritage is visibly destroyed / damaged, it becomes the ‘spirit’ that naturally connects the minds that believed in it. The spirit/Energy then is nuclear power. Hence heritages are ‘protected’.

Yesterday’s Island editorial headed ‘Asking for big trouble’ at https://island.lk/asking-for-big-trouble/  , introduces the subject matter as follows:

 

[The recent big news was the government’s decision to allow the State of Emergency it had declared to lapse and thereafter revert to the much derided Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to deal with some Aragalaya frontliners belonging to the Inter University Students Federation. This organization is affiliated to Kumar Gunaratnam’s Front Line Socialist Party (FSLP) which broke away from the JVP but is now engaging in a fence mending exercise. We have said in this space before that the Aragalaya was widely labeled, both locally and internationally as a “peaceful protest.” That it initially was and there is no dispute whatever about that. But at the latter stages when barricades were stormed in the face of teargas and water cannons, it ceased to be peaceful. Unarmed yes, but peaceful no. Images beamed by both national and global television vividly captured the battering ram-style charges on barricades by young protesters including some yellow robed Buddhist monks. There was a sprinkling of women too present.]

In essence, according to the Island, the question seems to be whether PTA was necessary?

The following is included about the protestors:

[The attackers, confident in the knowledge that no live bullets would be fired, eventually succeeded in breaching the barriers and occupying President’s House, the Presidential Secretariat and Temple Trees. Then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private home on Fifth Lane, Kollupitiya, was also torched burning down a property he had planned to bequeath to Royal College, his alma mater. His library and valued personal possessions were burnt to cinders. Nobody has accused the protesters of being responsible for that despicable act of arson.]

The missing ingredient is the mind of the Politician who carries the karma of his party, in a parallel experience.

 

This is the burning of the Jaffna Library on 01 June 1981. We need the background structure to be conscious of this Karma as already existing  precondition.

 

1.    Wikipedia presents the origin of the Jaffna Library as follows:

[The library was built in many stages starting from 1933, from a modest beginning as a private collection. Soon, with the help of primarily local citizens, it became a full-fledged library. The library also became a repository of archival material written in palm leaf manuscripts, original copies of regionally important historic documents in the contested political history of Sri Lanka and newspapers that were published hundreds of years ago in the Jaffna peninsula. It thus became a place of historic and symbolic importance to all Sri Lankans]

The torching is presented as follows:

[On the night of June 1, according to many eyewitnesses, police and government-sponsored paramilitias set fire to the Jaffna public library and destroyed it completely. Over 97,000 volumes of books along with numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts were destroyed.^[7] Among the destroyed items were scrolls of historical value and the works and manuscripts of philosopher, artist and author Ananda Coomaraswamy and prominent intellectual Prof. Isaac Thambiah. The destroyed articles included memoirs and works of writers and dramatists who made a significant contribution toward the sustenance of the Tamil culture, and those of locally reputed physicians and politicians]

 

 

 

2.    In her article THE JAFFNA PUBLIC LIBRARY Part 1 at https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2019/05/27/the-jaffna-public-library-part-1/

Publisher Kamalika Pieris reveals as follows:

[The second incident was in 1979 when Piyasena, as a member of Kelaniya University Board was on the interview panel to select lecturers. One young candidate, a Buddhist monk, produced copies of some important Sanskrit documents used for his research. Examining them, Prof Jayawickrema of Kelaniya University, asked how he came across those documents. The monk said he obtained one of the documents through a friend from Sorbonne University in France and the others were copied from the original volumes available at the Jaffna Library.

I am satisfied that Jaffna Library’ means Jaffna Public Library and not Jaffna College library. I assume that Piyasena is speaking of two separate bhikkus and two separate sets of documents. If not, Piyasena would have said so. However, it is surprising to hear that a rare Mahayana manuscript was found in Jaffna Public library. It is not surprising to hear that no one knew about it. ]

 

 

3.    Media

The Wikipedia report confirms the National attitude in relation to the burning of the library follows:

[The national newspapers did not report the incident. ]

 

 

4.    Political Gains – According to Wikipedia

 

4.1           Mr. W.J.M. Lokubandara

In subsequent parliamentary debates some majority Sinhalese members told minority Tamil politicians that if Tamils were unhappy in Sri Lanka, they should leave for their 'homeland' in India. A direct quote from a United National Party member is

If there is discrimination in this land which is not their (Tamil) homeland, then why try to stay here. Why not go back home (India) where there would be no discrimination. There are your kovils and Gods. There you have your culture, education, universities, etc. There you are masters of your own fate

- Mr. W.J.M. Lokubandara, MP in Sri Lanka's Parliament, July 1981.]

 

The above MP was, at that time, in UNP headed by President J R Jayawardene .

 

The following strongly indicates the attachment to Sinhalese and hence the urge to eliminate Tamil competition:

[Several books have been authored by Lokubandara, including some on Sigiriya. He was also a poet and a songwriter. His works include: During his tenure as the Minister of Culture, he directed the reprinting of Sinhala literary works including: Subhashithaya, Lokopakaraya, Amawathura, Wadan Kavi and Sakaskadaya. Then he published Dr. Senarath Paranavithana's book on 'Sigiriya Gee' in English at the Oxford Press. Meanwhile, he published a series of books on the great leaders who emerged in Sri Lanka. He was very fond of the Sinhala language where Lokubandara socialized words such as herbal tea and kola keda which are commonly used in conversations. He also had a knowledge of Pali and Sanskrit terms. ……]

Lokubandara died on 14 February 2021 at the age of 79 while being treated for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Angoda becoming the first high profile Sri Lankan politician to succumb to COVID-19]

The place of death is significant in that Angoda is known to be a hospital for the mentally ill. As per Hindu belief, if ancestors are disrespected, despite warnings from elders, the person who does so for current benefit becomes mentally deranged .

 

 

4.2     Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa

In 2006 the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse was quoted as saying,

The UNP is responsible for mass-scale riots and massacres against the Tamils in 1983, vote-rigging in the Northern Development Council elections and [the] burning of the Jaffna library

He was also further quoted as saying in reference to a prominent local Tamil poet, reminding the audience that

Burning the Library sacred to the people of Jaffna was similar to shooting down Lord Buddha

He concluded in that speech that as a cumulative effect of all these atrocities, the peaceful voice of the Tamils is now drowned in the echo of the gun; referring to the rebel LTTE's terrorism.]

To the extent Mr Rajapaksa used that measure to find fault with the Opposition, using Buddhism and did so without belief – the return came to him as loss with cumulative interest.

 

 

 

4.3     Ranil Wickremesinghe

[In 2016, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the leader of the United National Party apologized for the burning of the Library which happened during a UNP government. ]

Government investigation

According to Orville H. Schell, Chairman of the Americas Watch Committee, and Head of Amnesty International's 1982 fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka, the UNP government at that time did not institute an independent investigation to establish responsibility for these killings in May and June 1981 and take measures against those responsible. No one has been indicted for the crimes yet.

This karma explains why according to President Wickremesinghe, PTA was necessary to protect Politicians who did not believe in lesser laws. When a government uses a particular law to find fault with the Opposition, for political gain, it automatically is bound by the same measure for similar wrongs. The wrong in this instance was Mr Wickremesinghe’s own library – meant for his Alma Mater - Royal College. This meant that the library was a heritage burned by Sinhalese.

 

28 August 2022

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

 

THE RICH MIDDLE CLASS & RANIL

[In the 1960s, most Tamil films portrayed people as being either rich or poor. The conflict between the two classes often formed the backdrop for the plot. There wasn’t much of a concept of the middle class. It was KB who first made films about the middle class, for the middle class.]  K. Balachander: The Middle-Class Maestro by S Srinivasan at https://www.forbesindia.com/article/recliner/k-balachander-the-middleclass-maestro/26662/1

To K Balachander, they were the ‘rich middle class’.

Writer Uditha Devapriya presents their parallels in Protests as follows:

[The shibboleths that Colombo’s self-indulgent middle-classes lavish on the protests, or their memories of the protests at Gotagogama – that ‘Gotagogama is not a place, but a people’, or that ‘Gotagogama will live on!’ – should not blind one to the inextricable fact that these classes have exhausted their radicalism, or what little of it they possessed. This is why, no one among them answered Sarath Fonseka’s call to come to the streets on 9 August. This is also why, none of them seem to be as agitated as one would have imagined them to be vis-à-vis the sweeping arrests being made of student leaders like Wasantha Mudalige. Again, this should not surprise anyone, least of all the New Left student leaders themselves.] A Class Analysis of the Aragalaya at https://ceylontoday.lk/2022/08/25/a-class-analysis-of-the-aragalaya/

The key to Balachander’s success was that he was middle class and his films were  about the middle class, for the middle class

Likewise, Gandhi became labourer class and he became a natural part of them.

Uditha concludes as follows:

[It is utterly predictable, what is happening at present. As sweeping protests are being made, Colombo’s middle-classes have retuned home, indulging in their pastimes, heaping praise on the new government, and basically getting on with their lives. Like most anti-government protests, the Gotagogama movement succeeded in concealing the fundamental class rifts within it – between the petty bourgeoisie, the peasantry, and the urban workers – until the last hour. The rupture began to emerge on 13 July, only to finally erupt on 20 July. That not even Ranil Wickremesinghe’s crackdown on 22 July could resolve this rupture, tells us many things. More than anything else, it tells us about the lack of a radical political consciousness within the middle-classes. Whatever way you look at it, this remains as inescapable a fact as ever. The (student-led) New Left would do well to record it for the future.]

In politics, Ranil also is middle-class. Hence the rich were not interested in him and the poor did not identify with him after Premadasa separated from the UNP. He did a Balachander about whom the following was reported:

[He thought long and hard about his objectives. “That day, I decided I will never associate myself with great stars. I wanted my own views, my own
perspective to come out in the movies.”]

That to me was the soul power which elevated Ranil to the position of leading the rich middle class Sri Lankan community. They are rich because they are not class-conscious. Let’s not forget Ranil’s contribution as an audience, to Indian film industry in which K Balachander is an elder.

 

27 August 2022

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

 

TRIBUTE TO APPAPILLAI AMIRTHALINGAM

 

Vaddukoddai Resolution 1976, to my mind, had the blessings of gods. The blessings were confirmed in the Parliamentary elections of 1977:

[TULF contested the 1977 Sri Lankan parliamentary election on its demand for Tamil Eelam and won an overwhelming mandate in the Tamil areas, becoming the main opposition party in Sri Lanka, the only time a minority party has done so. It gave impetus to Tamil Nationalists who claimed it was a democratic endorsement of a separate state.] Wikipedia

The Resolution was interpreted by us in different ways – each as per their own existing mind structure. Today, I explained this as follows to a fellow Tamil Diaspora leader:

[I access Wikipedia, as a start. But the interpretation is as per the inner voice that influences the mind to ‘search’. This to me, is as per the saying -  ‘seek and you shall find’. In yesterday’s article for example, even though I felt that Admiral by the name of Zheng He, who imprisoned the Kotte king was connected to the Silk Road, Wikipedia did not have information on this. But as I kept writing my discoveries as I interpreted them,  I came across :
The Ohio State University – MCLC (Modern Chinese Literature and Culture ) RESOURCE CENTER at https://u.osu.edu/mclc/2015/10/02/zheng-he-and-the-maritime-silk-road/

 

The seeking was mine. Given that it was genuine, I found the mind that had already made the connection. ]

To my mind, the above is the parallel of the media slogan ‘We report ; you decide’.

As per Wikipedia, it as interpreted as ‘separate state’. The Tamil Tigers also seem to have interpreted it as ‘separate country’. This is a problem with Equal Opportunity and Equality. The Tamil Tigers seem to have interpreted it as Separate country, instead of ‘Independent Nation.’

In his article ‘Appapillai Amirthalingam From Enfant Terrible to Elder Statesman’ D B S Jeyaraj states:

[In fariness to Amirthalingam and most leaders of the TULF they were not active promoters of political violence. None of the frontline leaders aided or abetted violence. Some of them however had ambivalent attitudes and approaches. Also the party itself did not view these acts of violence as terrorism but as the acts of freedom fighters.  
Some of the youths allegedly involved in violence were members of the TULF youth wing. This resulted in TULF leaders involving themselves  legally in these cases. But what must not be forgotten is that the overall Tamil political mood was sympathetic to the armed Tamil youths. The TULF too was too caught up in this process.  
Amirthalingam too realized this later and regretted a certain course of action followed earlier by the TULF. He felt that the Federal Party and the TULF could have possibly adopted other  strategies and tactics. He was somewhat remorseful of the ambivalent relationship the TULF had with the Tamil armed movements at a certain stage of their development]

The right interpretation was that Tamils would be Equal Opposition in Sri Lankan Parliament. Hence the indicator in the 1977 Elections.

At the physical level, the interpretation of ‘separate country’ would have included physically eliminating those who ‘expressly disagreed’ with the armed leadership. This included the Tamil Political leaders . In his write up headed ‘The murder of a moderate’ wise journalist Mr T Sabaratnam wrote :

‘Appapillai Amirthalingam …was murdered, first  politically, and then physically. The political slaying  was by Sinhala leadership and the physical by Tamil militants.

Both murders had a common effect – the elimination of Tamil moderates as a political factor.’

By remembering and appreciating, we keep the light of ‘moderates’ alive. When its strength is stronger than that of polarised extremists, we as a community would have paid our dues to those who died for commonness which was interpreted by the physically driven as a block to freedom to separate. The higher the mind structure, the less visible the separating physical border.