Now is the Time to Observe Silently

A Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil woman cries as she holds a photograph of her son who disappeared in the final stage of the country's decades-long civil war, during a protest to mark International Human Rights Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Dec. 10, 2010. - AP Photo

‘A good Citizen would elect a Government on the basis of belief and a progressive Government would Administer through Merit Basis towards valuing the work of all on Equal footing’. 

by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam

Mr. Sarath Fonseka
Former General of the Sri Lanka Army
C/- Sri Lanka Guardian
13 December 2010

Dear Mr. Fonseka,


Now is the Time to Observe Silently

(December 13, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I respond to your article under the heading ‘Now is the Time to Act’, in today’s Sri Lanka Guardian.

I tried to read with an open mind, looking for some democratic facility that you may be spelling out. But I could not find any.

You state in the opening paragraph ‘Sri Lanka is still a democracy and the Constitution specifies certain rights - among them the right of the citizens to exercise their franchise without being intimidated or persecuted. Sadly, the reality is quite the opposite.’

As a Tamil, I would say ‘Sri Lanka which is called a democracy is a country in which the right of the citizen to exercise her/his belief without the fear of being intimidated or persecuted has been seriously damaged. Reality keeps confirming this’.

Mr. Fonseka, when you were fighting to eliminate the LTTE, you were fighting to remove reality expressions of Tamils who felt suppressed by your Government and therefore felt the need to take revenge. You, as a Senior Administrator were apparently enjoying authority at the highest levels of Public Service. Unlike the ordinary citizen, you did not have to resort to the courts and various arms of the executive government to derive your benefits. To the extent you earned it relative to the ordinary citizen – you were entitled to accept those benefits. But then you went beyond your position in saying “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese”. You did not say it on merit basis but used ‘belief’ which is personal to each individual. Belief needs to be used as a priority by citizen without portfolio and as a last resort by all those holding official positions that require them to ‘judge’.

That statement, to me is the parallel of Mr. Rajapakse saying ‘ I believe this Government is for the Rajapakse family’. There is no published evidence that you questioned Mr. Rajapakse when his brother was given Administrative position above you. One who failed to fight for her/his rights would not have the real authority or the ability to fight for the rights of others against the same authority, except when one has experienced pain and loss deeper than the pleasures and benefits from the same source. Compared to many members of the minority races, you continue to enjoy high status amongst Sri Lankans. You are still seen as Mr. Rajapakse’s opposition which does not automatically qualify you to speak on behalf of the ordinary citizen.

You have said ‘A Government is elected to power on the promises it makes to develop the country and improve the living standards of its people.’

I say ‘A good Citizen would elect a Government on the basis of belief and a progressive Government would Administer through Merit Basis towards valuing the work of all on Equal footing’.

You say ‘I am beginning to realize our legal process does not do any good to the people, primarily because of the manner in which the President interferes. If you need even further evidence, look at the travesty of the two courts martial that found me, with all evidence to the contrary, guilty as the President wanted.’

I translate that as ‘There has been serious interference of the Executive in the independence of the Judiciary and thus Sri Lanka lacks the basics to be called a democracy for which the separation of powers between the Executive and the Judiciary is an essential criterion. The military war through which the LTTE was defeated was therefore undemocratic for which the Tamil Community has to be compensated. To the extent Tamils also fought on the basis of ‘belief’ they were just and it was fair in an environment where they did not have access to merit based systems through which to express themselves and the value of their work’.

You say ‘For a country to develop and its people to feel they are truly partners to that development, there must be economic freedom. Unfortunately, the reality in Sri Lanka is that, only those who get the blessing of the President and his close associates are allowed to prosper. This ensures the promise and potential for development will always remain a distant dream for many. It is up to us to take up the challenge of changing the system’

I say ‘Economic Power is the parallel of Majority Vote. Majority power works for that time and place. On its own, neither Majority Power nor Money Power renders real ‘freedom’. To enjoy economic freedom one must know within, that the money in his / her possession / physical and legal ownership has been fairly earned and believe that that apparent wealth is a true representation of her/his real work. If this is done purely through money in its various forms – then we do not need status and therefore hierarchical structures including that of General in the Army, through which status is allocated. Your loss of status in the Administrative system has been compensated by your people who elected you to represent them in parliament. The former ought to have been on merit basis and the latter on belief basis. Where one part of your community makes up for the loss through another, it is still a wholesome community for you. In terms of Tamils who left Sri Lanka, their electoral loss has been compensated through economic prosperity through work in other countries. Any such Tamil who votes / directly influences the local voter in Sri Lanka is interfering in the belief based authority of the Tamil resident in Sri Lanka. Belief is for local outcomes as Merit is for global outcomes. Using money directly towards political influence is as damaging as using belief outside one’s local environment. You expressing belief , that Sri Lanka was for Sinhalese, in an interview with Mr. Stewart Bell of the National Post of Canada, was inappropriate until you became a global citizen. It was in fact in breach of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers as per which the Executive starts with belief of the people, expressed through majority vote and finishes with merit basis. The judiciary on the other hand start with merit basis and exercises belief through discretionary powers to complete the picture. To me, it is like the Chinese Yin-Yang concept.’

In conclusion, I state that Tamils have become the natural opposition to the Government of Sri Lanka elected by majority race. Natural forces would keep continue to work beyond borders of time and space to maintain this balance through those of us who work towards being wholesome. I do believe that together we would find Global Solutions. Both sides to the military war have done their parts. Now they have the duty to silently observe Nature’s manifestation of their work through real believers. As our Yoga Swami said ‘Summa Iru’ / Keep Still. Then like Nallur Muruga you would Observe the outcomes through Global Players.