| by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
( December 1, 2012, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in
response to the Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Is Parliament
sovereign? ’ by Dr Reeza Hameed.
 |
In old English Governments Christianity and its clergy were distinctly visible. Sovereignty to my mind is the ability to be independent and feel wholesome – as a person and/or as a group.
I enjoyed very much the feeling of identity with the substance
of this article. In terms of legal science – to my mind if Dr. Reeza Hameed is
the academic father I am the practicing mother. It is interesting that we are
both of minority religions of our country of origin - Sri Lanka. The current
question before Sri Lankans is Who is Superior – Political Mother or Judicial
Father?
Dr. Reeza Hameed’s opening statement is ‘There is
no basis in the Sri Lanka Constitution for the proposition that the Sri Lanka
Parliament is sovereign. It is neither sovereign nor supreme.’
My version of this would be: ‘As per the Constitution
of Sri Lanka we have the holy trinity – Brammah/Vishnu/Shiva; Allah/ Mohamed /
Islam; Father / Son / Holy Spirit; Legislature/Executive/Judiciary;
Body/Mind/Soul.’
To Tamils who are claiming sovereign status this would be Tamil
Eelam/Prabakaran/Tamil Nation.
In terms of Sri Lankan legal system this is Customary
Law such as Thesawalamai and Common Law/Enacted Law/Justice.
Article 4 of the Sri Lankan Constitution also lists the three
leaderships in governance in this order. Each one is not superior to
the other. Each head is superior to other institutions in its own
branch. Likewise any Multicultural system – including the caste system of
Jaffna which was based originally on the type of work performed by particular
groups. They go wrong when applied without reference to their roots.
Dr. Reeza Hameed states ‘In England, given the absence of a
single document called the Constitution, not all the basic principles of
constitutional law are codified. Such is not the case in Sri Lanka.’
To my mind, in England, no particular religion has been given by
law, priority placement but in Sri Lanka Buddhism has been given priority
placement and therein lies the problem.
In old English Governments Christianity and its clergy were
distinctly visible. Sovereignty to my mind is the ability to be independent and
feel wholesome – as a person and/or as a group. Hence where majority needed
religious beliefs to feel independent and wholesome, Religion and religious
leaders were part of the Government. When an individual realizes this
independence and therefore sovereignty that individual has the power to
recognize and develop this power in others. That individual is the natural
leader of that group. When Truth of that whole group is pooled in common (as in
Commonwealth) and is equally divided we have Equal Opportunity systems. When
that common pool is shared as per merit – we have hierarchical systems. The
paths through which we ‘pool’ our investments in sovereignty become the basis
of the structures and due processes for the next generation and/or other
contemporary groups that seek to learn from us.
Our work and sacrifices during our lifetime need to be
given form towards this following by the next generation and / or learning
by wider world. This is the reason why we have memorials for those who pass
away and why we produce current objectively measurable outcomes of our work for
those who seek to learn from us but are not
biologically/physically connected to us. Occupier of every position also
has that responsibility as per her/his position structures and boundaries. If
existing structures and boundaries are not able to facilitate this we need to
restructure our positions – to become broader or narrower – the goal always
being to achieve sovereignty at that level. One who has achieved sovereignty at
a lower level position has the right to be recognized as being Equal to every
other position in a sovereign entity. This is why I often say that the
Pariah/Toilet Cleaner and the Vice Chancellor of a University are
Equal once the Pariah realizes sovereignty through her/his position. I
realized this through my position of Management Accountant of the Faculty of
Medicine at the University of New South Wales. By having me arrested when
I peacefully demonstrated this ‘Sovereignty’ / ‘Independence’ the Central
Administrators (parallel of the Executive in National Government) were
interfering with my Sovereignty and therefore the Sovereignty of the group I
felt I belonged to. This group was first the University of New South
Wales, followed by the State of New South Wales and finally the Commonwealth of
Australia headed by the Hon John Howard as Prime Minister who, like
the President of Sri Lanka, was following the footpath of his own biological
culture to govern a multicultural Australia. I instituted legal action to
confirm my sovereignty as Australian through the path of Asian migrant and
Mr. Howard’s lack of sovereignty as Australian through the path of Anglo
migrant. Equal Opportunity laws facilitate our journey towards realizing
Sovereignty in a multicultural country. I practiced Equal
Opportunity actively and hence became wholesome Australian before Mr. Howard to
whom Equal Opportunity laws would have been secondary so long as majority
members of his electorate were influenced strongly by belief in their English
culture. I thus gave form to my investment in Equal Opportunity laws and
through such my realization of ‘Sovereignty’ as a migrant Australian. This is
like writing a will which ideally ought to confirm our belief as to who
would best respect and carry forward our money wealth and status. Our money
wealth and status are the physical manifestations of our life. They denote the
paths through which we realized our spiritual values. Most, if not all, of the
material side of Gandhi’s life is in his status as Father of the Nation.
Religious leadership within Government represented the belief in
God / Universal Power. This has been replaced in Democracy through the belief
based Do It Yourself leadership to complete the cycle sovereignty through that
part of the institution/nation. The stronger our belief in Democracy the lesser
the visibility of structures that confirm Hierarchical leadership – which most
Religious leaderships are.
By stating specifically in the Constitution (Article 9) that Buddhism
is the foremost religion of Sri Lanka, the People of Sri Lanka have
blocked their own progress in Democracy. Similarly by stating ‘The
Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.’ [Article18(1)]. The
above language placement has been followed by ‘Tamil shall
also be an official language.’ [Article18(2)]. As per my interpretation - the
use of ‘The’ mutually excludes the use of ‘a/an’ to
denote placement. If they were truly Equal as official languages – the wording
ought to have been to the effect of ‘The Official Languages of Sri
Lanka shall be Sinhala & Tamil’.
As per my observation, the controversy of ‘Sinhala
Only’ which led to ethnic riots followed by war over the past 30 years has
changed form to manifest itself as ‘Executive Supremacy Only’. If
Tamils had been facilitated to manifest their investment in Sovereignty as a
community within the country, Sinhalese would have not needed an
alternate avenue through which to ‘show’ their Supremacy. Like
Soorapathman who took various forms and eventually surrendered to Lord Muruga
as Peacock and Rooster, the majority race in Sri Lanka is changing its
leadership forms. When they surrender to Lord Muruga who represents Independence
through the path of Democracy / Globalization, the Politicians
would become the Peacock on which Sovereign Powers would travel the world and
the Judiciary, like the Rooster in Lord Muruga’s flag would intellectually
inform that wider world that Sri Lanka is a Sovereign Nation.
In the meantime, for the purpose of intellectual debate – one
needs to ask whether Buddha is superior to the Constitution of Sri Lanka or
whether it is the other way around. The tertiary stage is the spiritual stage
of life and hence is belief as part of a whole. At primary stage we
express our individual belief through our vote. The tertiary stage belief needs
to be least visible at individual level. By giving it specific form in the
Constitution, those who crafted the Constitution have given lesser status
to Buddhism below the Constitution and to Buddha (leave alone the Judicial
Head) below the President. If Tamils who claim
Sovereignty are punished as Terrorists – Sinhalese Politicians who abide by
Article 9 must be punished for Blasphemy. More importantly they cannot lead
their followers to realize sovereignty through the Constitution so long as
their religious belief is stronger than their belief as a Sri Lankan. Thus they
cheated their people promising they would lead them to realize sovereignty as
Sri Lankans. Hence the ongoing turmoil in Sri Lanka, which is more visible now
that majority Tamils have separated themselves.
Parliament is Sovereign to voters. Executive is Sovereign to
Practitioners of Civil Codes; Judiciary is Sovereign to Practitioners of Law.
They are like three religions. Citizen who believes s/he is an
intrinsic and inalienable part of the whole country is Sovereign to
the Nation. Without at least one such citizen, a country is yet to attain
Nationhood and therefore is yet to realize Sovereign status. One who realizes
Sovereignty as a Buddhist in Buddhist group would feel part of the whole and
therefore Sovereign. This is confirmed by treating the other religions as
Equals. Likewise the Legislature and the Executive.
According to
information received by me, the Speaker of Sri Lankan parliament had
said in relation to Judicial Summons/Notices regarding the
Parliamentary Select Committee inquiring into the impeachment
charges against the Chief Justice: ‘I am happy to note that a
broad consensus emerged in the course of the debate on the central issue
requiring my decision. I would like to make particular motion of the view,
clearly expressed by the Hon. Leader of the opposition in the course of his
intervention, that the purported notices constitute an unwarranted interference
with the powers and procedures of Parliament and are invalid. This was stated
with great clarity by the Hon. Joseph Michael Perera as well.
On careful consideration of this matter, I wish to convey to the house my
ruling that the notices issued on me, as Speaker of Parliament, and on the
members of the select committee appointed by me, have no effect whatever and
are not recognized in any manner.
I declare that the purported notices, issued to me and to the members of the
select committee are a nullity and entail no legal consequences.
I wish to make it clear that this ruling of mine as Speaker of Parliament, will
apply to any similar purported Notice, Order or Determination in respect of the
proceedings of the committee which will continue solely and exclusively under
the authority of Parliament.’
If this is true recording of what happened – then I conclude
that the current Speaker of Sri Lankan parliament is not serving all Sri Lankans
but is reducing one group to elevate his group. We’ll have to do
what we can and leave it to Buddha/Muruga/Allah to bring about the change. Every
sovereign Sri Lankan would be able to make the connection and identify with
her/his contribution when the change happens.
 I write in response to the Sri Lanka Guardian a...){kind=link}