PAULINE HANSON AND SRI LANKAN PROTESTORS – by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
Image Source: TTF
I begin with an excerpt from the Chapter on ‘Sovereignty’ in my book:
The Australian government continues to actively promoting its ‘sovereign-border policy ’ in Sri Lanka. It is a continuing challenge not only for the government but also for us ordinary Australians. Why is it important for me to maintain my Sovereignty? Truth, I believe is Sovereign. Only a Sovereign body has the moral authority to make its own laws. The laws I make for myself would lead me to live in peace, through a balanced mind. As per my Sovereignty, my conscience is my judge.
Where I do not make laws for myself, my actions become my ‘external laws’. These are the measures applicable in determining ‘rights and wrongs’ in my home environments. These include my workplaces.
Then there is also the inner law – through which I live with myself. The net value of this in any relationship comes with me as the investment capital of the next stage in that relationship or in another similar relationship. This is the soul value, the truth of my investment in the relationship.
In my Hindu culture, they say that we take with us into our next birth only the Paavam & Punniyam / Sins and Virtues. I feel that this is the soul-value of our life in this birth. Instead of ‘birth’ I find it easier to use relationships or completed stages of a particular relationship.
When someone believes in me as their senior, I become their conscience and therefore their natural judge. In turn they become my medium to manifest outcomes that would support many at within our circle of faith / common culture. Similarly, when I believe in someone, that someone becomes my conscience and my judge and I become their medium for manifestations. Together we become a Sovereign unit with the value of the whole being greater than the sum of us as individuals. The higher value is due to that belief which spreads the value of the senior exponentially as if each one is the senior of the group.
In terms of Democracy, when I vote for a leader, I confirm that sovereignty. The visible numbers which in democracy lead to formation of government by the group that polled the highest number of votes is not always based on belief. But the person who believes in the whole would naturally fill the gap so that the whole is exponentially powered as if each member had the same power as the believing member. This system is reliable due to the Absolute Power of belief. It becomes necessary when the top-down Administration becomes weak and/or corrupt. ]
Lay Protestors who ousted lawfully elected Sri Lankan President, needed the Absolute power of their truth to do so as per Dharma. This would have been confirmed by non-violence in their group. Gandhi shared his belief in non-violent Protest, by sacrificing everything he had, into the common cause. When some protestors in his group reacted, Gandhi fasted. Thus his mind power spread naturally to those who knew about hunger.
The Sri Lankan Protest group failed to control the violence, due to lack of truth and therefore soul-power.
I protest often these days in my home-environments. The results happen much later or through other avenues. But they happen for sure. In 1998, during Nallur Festival, I was protesting against the Executive power of Central Administrators of the University of NSW (UNSW) due to them blocking the pathway to Democratic Management. Then on Monday, 10 August 1998, Australian Broadcasting Corporation – ABC telecasted through its 4 Corners Program an interview with Ms Pauline Hanson, who said migrants who could not assimilate -ought to ‘go home’ – very like ‘Gota Go Home’protestors. The very next day, I tendered my resignation from my position at the UNSW. Many other Australians of Sri Lankan origin would have watched the program. But to the extent they were satisfied with their life here in Australia their protests, if any, would have been mild. With that resignation, began my quiet opposition to racism and unjust subjective discrimination. I identified myself more and more with Indigenous Australians and began taking legal action against those who denied me – merit based rewards – including status. I wrote my experiences as Naan Australian/ I am Australian – which found its way to the National Library of Australia. That is how exponential power of truth works.
Yesterday I heard again on the news that Pauline Hanson, had walked out when the Senate was paying its respects to Indigenous Australians. As per the news – no one seemed to ‘miss’ her. I felt satisfied that Pauline Hanson had been made very much an outsider in today’s Australia and that my true contribution had also contributed to this.
Whenever we express our belief, we invoke exponential powers of ownership – even if no one values our work expressly. Now I know that I sacrificed my paid work opportunity back then, but instead service opportunities come to me. Recently when I prepared a Cost Benefit Analysis for a school project here in NSW, I was amazed that I was still good at it. That is the way with Service. The value of my work for UNSW, was made eternal due to my sacrifice on behalf of all migrants.
