Poisoning of Mind v Poisoning of Body!
by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
( August 20, 2016, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Magistrate Pat O’Shane sent me to Caritas at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney for a Section 32 Assessment – which was about my mental health. The Appendix to yesterday’s article Sri Lankan President promises Separation!, has the details.
Magistrate Pat O’Shane might have meant well but I exercised my rights and declined to put myself through such a test. The reason given was that I was having visions of my guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba and that I was following in the footsteps of Ghandi. I reported my experience in this regard through my article Judicial Interference in Executive Administration and Politics.
[I am a victim of Caritas here in Sydney, Australia. On 06 May 2005, I was sent to Caritas by the Courts, for an assessment. The doctor in charge threatened me with enforced medication and suggested that I ought to take instructions from my husband and children. I had to pray hard to get myself out of the situation and urged the medical team to contact my husband on the phone. This was done and my husband informed them as to how highly I was valued by the Medical Faculty of the University of New South Wales, and referred them to the Dean of Medicine – Professor Bruce Dowton who gave a glowing reference about me on the basis of my work. I believe that if not for that Goodwill from Professor Dowton, I would have been more traumatized that night at Caritas. I was taken back to Mulawa prison which felt heavenly after this ordeal. There I was placed with mentally ill inmates and I decided not to eat any food except fruits – which I felt were safe – in case they sought to enforce medication. I later learnt from another inmate that they do inject medication if you are disobedient. What authority does Caritas have to take a higher position in Peace Development than the fighters / workers at the coalface? ]
To me it is no coincidence that the pictures in that articles are of the then Sri Lankan President at Nallur Temple – and Mr. Wigneswaran – then a retired member of the Judiciary also at a temple in Colombo.
The current President has stated expressly that he would promote Buddhism. If Sri Lanka is to be shown as a predominantly Buddhist country – then its head of State must not be seen at other places of worship – especially at Nallur the Cultural Capital of Northern Sri Lanka. A Buddhist President coming to come to Nallur Temple and receiving the higher honors when a deeper devotee is sweating it out in the Common crowd – is an insult to our civilization and it distorts the minds of the Hindu as well as the Buddhist. A Buddhist President taking the foremost position at Hindu Temple is like the President taking the Judicial Chair in Court. It is for this reason that we have the Doctrine of Separation of Powers which makes us Equal in each other’s eyes. Without that we can have no respect for the other. One who takes an active position is a participant and is not an observer. Hence when the President stated that he would respect the ideas of other communities – to my mind it was a false promise.
Recently – I heard an Australian father say to his little 7 year old ‘to say sorry to her little sister’. The 7 year old did say sorry – more as a ritual to escape greater punishment. The father shouted ‘Say it like you mean it!’ As per its meaning – it cannot be delivered except when the 7 year old pretends so strongly that her father would accept that she means it. All of a sudden the 7 year old cannot bring within her – the feeling that she had erred nor the intellectual discrimination as to why what she did was wrong. Like the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka she was waving her little sister away from the computer so she could have most of the space when they were talking to me – with me being here in Vaddukoddai here in Sri Lanka. I have been recalling that and keep smiling drawing parallels with catch 22. I was able to because I believe that to the extent the daughter obeyed – she would learn from her Dad who has a very clever mind in delivering independent outcomes of high standards.
To my mind, the President’s promise to respect other religions as being equal while promoting Buddhism is also undeliverable. The mind order that is meant from within – has to be written by the person independent of external influences – one time or the other during the journey of that soul. Wanting to promote Buddhism is natural and is from within. Respecting other religions is ‘external’ to such a leader in Sri Lanka which has demonstrated that it is stuck to the ‘Only Syndrome’ due to desire for Subjective power while enjoying the fruits of democracy. One who desires the votes through subjective influence – would not have the inner wisdom to mean Equality the key feature of democracy. Practicing democracy in Northern Province is very exhausting and requires frequent changes to one’s mind-order which has the effect of draining one’s mental resources.
The New Indian Express report ‘US backs out of undertaking to medically examine former Tamil Tiger combatants’ reveals:’
‘The Chief Minister of the Tamil-majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, had told the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) that he had requested the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Atul Keshap, to get the US Air Force medical team camping in Jaffna to examine the suspected cases of poisoning. Upon this, the Ambassador said that the team would look at the cases and decide what to do next.’
The question I ask is – as to why Mr. Wigneswaran did not get the certification of Tamil Doctors in Northern Province to confirm such poising of the body. Is it also more serious than the mental disorder caused by the bosses of these young combatants to obey the gun rather than the common cultural value of Northern Province? When I published my traumatic experience at Caritas – Asian Tribune – called it ‘personal’. No leader Australian, Sri Lankan, Tamil or English raised her/his voice in support of me. Yet I have practiced and promoted good mind order most of my adult life. I went to prison for promoting Good Professional Accounting order at the University of NSW. If Mr. Wigneswaran can wear the Pottu – representing the Third Eye – as being symbolic of his inner person – why did Mr. Wigneswaran not take the Hindus in this group of victims to Nallur Temple and get them to roll on the ground and cure their minds? The cured mind does not need as much body as the mentally weak mind – to lead a harmonious life. This is why they say in Tamil that the head is the most important part of the body.
One cultural wisdom I learnt from White Australians is to not neglect normal children while taking care of the disabled child in the family. The less able child when s/he is placed as per her/his abilities – would be able to share in the higher contribution to the common pool. Likewise – within the Tamil Community – the victims of war will be able to enjoy through the common pool – the experiences of all others if the latter were positive. It’s therefore important to not promote war victims as the foremost group within the Tamil community. They need to be Equal until there is a current need otherwise. To the extent the combatants chose their own pathway through the gun and to the extent their bosses killed the bodies of political leaders – their karma is returning to their heirs – for the same reason why some are born in low caste Thunaivi whilst leaders are born in Vaddukoddai town.. Why do they need special care over those in whom they instilled social fear in a community that has long prided itself as an intellectually driven community?
By resorting to arms – the Tamil Tigers separated themselves from those who were committed to the higher intellectual pathway. The resources of the latter belong to the heirs of those who promoted the intellectual structures and pathways. Mr. Wigneswaran has no right to take Paul Tax and pay Peter Tax. The parallel Tamil saying is to take the coconut from the street shop and break it in front of the street Pillayar / Ganesh. Intellectual Ganesh would send the returns to the Shop owner and not to the heirs of armed combatants who disturbed the Common Mind Order of Tamils. The Third eye wisdom if Mr. Wigneswaran listened to it would show the picture that these combatants must first pay their dues to the Common coffers – be they local or international – before the Mountain would come to Mohamed.
