Lonely Sri Lankans

| by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

( September 17, 2012, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in response to the Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘The Comic Paradox of Sri Lankan Democracy ’ by Mr. Gamini Weerakoon. Mr. Weerakoon highlights ‘And what of ‘Development’? Yes, there is the Mahinda Rajapaksa Magampura Harbour (the Hambantota harbour), the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium at Hambantota and the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport at Mattala (Hambantota) coming up and more Mahinda Rajapaksa sports stadiums like that at Maharagama’

In summary, Sri Lanka is Mahinda Rajapkse. For the Tamil side – Eelam is Prabaharan. It is now more in the minds and less apparent. Every person who invests at this level – either through Mahinda Rajapakse or through Velupillai Prabaharan, is investing in the past. Without Prabaharan there is no glory for Mahinda Rajapakse. If we do not see one side – we do not see the other.

We may invest at money level, people/status level and ownership level. At ownership level there is no separation. We are just different forms of one nation. As I said recently to an Australian Tamil, when he invested in his local environment for ‘grades’ to show others in that environment – that investment was the parallel of money level investment. Carrying it elsewhere at that level as is - is like carrying a burden. The deeper we invest, the greater the opportunity to connect to the work of others in the wider circle – for example, teachers and administrators of a school. Then we carry the grades with them. Recently someone said about reunion of a Jaffna school here in Australia – that it was full of glamour. Similarly – the anti-terrorism carried by the Rajapakse Government beyond the local borders. Likewise the war-crimes charges carried by the Tamil Diaspora beyond their local borders.

The greater the gap between our ‘grades’ and the real value of common work and sacrifices underpinning those grades – the greater our investment in separation.

Recently I wrote as follows in relation to someone’s offer to recruit a widow into their family:

I believe that this could be a common investment project for us. The foundation needs to be 'right' for all of us to render diversity to our common investment. It is quite common for elderly to be taken care of by younger members of the family. When we do this without expectations of money/physical pleasures and/or status 'give and take' - it is of 'service' value. In families we call it 'love'. Service/Love unites us naturally but reaching this state is not easy - especially for us - the more affluent ones in society.

I know Xxxx and his generous sharing. To me therefore, the benefit of the work done by the person being recruited would be Xxxxx. Likewise the benefits in return from you to the lady are taken as being given to me. That is when we lead this project at the global/universal level.

My philosophy is that where one side has conditions, we need firm structures and Due Processes that would lead us to this goal of Oneness. To that extent I insist on money for work I do to oblige those who seem to have higher status and/or money than I. It was on this basis that I insist on getting paid for any consulting work I do as per the expectations of others. If they are as per my expectations, then it is of 'service' value. Xxxxx shared his status generously with me when I sought to go to the Camps in 2009 - to help the IDPs. I have in turn shared my status with the 'extremists' to recognize Xxxxx as being part of that level of our community - which if separated/abandoned becomes a community different to ours and would be taken as being equal to us due to their independence. Hence the problem is not just separation from the Sinhalese but also from the higher levels of Tamil community.

Money and status help us regulate the path that is commonly used by the two sides. They are calculated values through which we show our commonness. Hence, to the extent you had conditions, I asked for you to stipulate the payment. As per my assessment, it would be more difficult for these ladies to accept your family as theirs than it would be for you to accept them as yours. To the extent of that 'gap' we need firm structures and hence the money reward. Besides, young ones would willingly migrate / displace themselves for money, than would older ones who would be as reluctant as us to leave their 'homes'.

Mr. Weerakoon says ‘The voters have been reduced to a state of Zombies—made deaf, dumb and blind. Over 90 per cent of the media—Radio, TV and Press are state controlled. Those fiercely independent institutions have surrendered their independence by, leading lights accepting government appointments. Thus when it came to elections the Opposition was fighting a well armed juggernaut of the government with bows and arrows.’

If Sri Lanka had remained a poor country – in terms of money – voters would have not become Zombies. The law of Nature continues to produce the ‘other’ side of all our actions. We ‘sold’ our internal troubles to outsides who paid us money to fool the voters and buy over their voting rights. This would not have happened if the so called educated had shared their intellectual skills to benefit the community in common. Even now, we have intellectual arguments that would not be understood at grassroots level. We need to be the bridges between the Government and the Voters. The Bridge is Administration. The stronger the Administration the less room there is for politics.

We allowed Prabaharan to elect himself; Prabaharan then recruited Mahinda Rajapakse who killed Prabaharan. In essence, Prabaharan killed himself by failing to value others’ work – especially the work of those who invested in deeper ownership values and / or wider cultures.. Every person who goes it alone – would effectively remain on home grounds and die alone. We get our own back once we bring something to the surface. When we include others in sharing the credits of our work we automatically get others to share our debits too. Those who are ‘sole leaders’ will suffer it alone.