Veluppillai Thangavelu
If he continues to be adamant he will perish, even though there be no one to destroy him
A King, with none to censure him, bereft of Ministers who can rebuke him, will perish even though there be no one to destroy him. This is a quote from Thirukkural written in the form of couplets (two line poems) is an ethical treatise espousing various aspects of life. It is considered as the magnum opus of Tamil literature and culture with the highest and purest expressions of human thought.
Thirukkural has three major parts. The first part (38 chapters) deals with Aram (Virtue), the moral value of human life. The second part (70 chapters) is on Porul (Wealth), the socio economic values of men in a civilized society. The final part (25 chapters) is on Kamam or Inbam (Love) is about ethical living in private life.
The above quote is from Chapter 45 under the heading “Securing friendship of great men.” I was reminded of this quote when I read in the papers that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had berated senior SLFP Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Sripala de Silva at a recent cabinet meeting over a statement the latter made to the media. Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva told the media that mega development projects would not suffice to win votes. The President expressed his disgust over such remarks by a senior member of the Cabinet and a SLFP stalwart. Boiling with anger, he told the Minister that he should not have made such remarks. A crest fallen Mr. de Silva did not have the guts to defend his statement, instead sheepishly offered the typical excuse that his remarks had been misinterpreted. (Daily Mirror – April 05, 2014)
In a parliamentary system of government the Prime Minister will not dare rebuke a Minister since he is only the first among equals in the cabinet. The situation is different under a presidential system. Mahinda Rajapaksa has developed a penchant to criticise Ministers in the presence of other Ministers. Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem is another victim of Rajapaksa’s tongue lashing over the presentation of a petition handed over Ms Navaneetham Pillay complaining about the demolition of mosques by Sinhala – Buddhist extremists.
An analysis of the Western and Southern Provincial council results shows even to the un-initiative that the ruling party has lost votes and seats compared to the elections held 5 years ago in 2009. The percentage votes have also dropped, but an arrogant and self-conceited Mahinda Rajapaksa is refusing to read the writing on the wall. Such arrogance will lead to self-destruction, if not self-defeat – even though there will be no one to destroy him.
Read the full article here
Amarasiri / April 15, 2014
Dear Veluppillai Thangavelu –
“If he continues to be adamant he will perish, even though there be no one to destroy him”
There are no term limits. So he will live until he is very old. After he is dead, perished, due to natural causes, he can be kept as head of state, a heed head of state for ever.
Alternately some other from the clan can continue the dictatorship.
DeJa Vu… Have seen it before.
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Ram / April 15, 2014
This is exactly what happened to V. Prabhakaran, who did not listen to anybody. He is dead, yet …
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Kutti Machan / April 15, 2014
Yes…..stupid Thangavelu doesn’t realize that. Most of the Tamil leaders perished at the hands of the monster they had created. And Prabakaran himself perished due to his megalomania, he was out of touch with reality. By the way Thiruvalluvar was a Buddhist. If Amirthalingam, Prabakaran and other Tamil racists had heeded the Buddhist advice given by Thirukkural they would be alive today. By the way Mahinda only criticizes his ministers, he doesn’t shoot them.
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Thirukkural / April 15, 2014
A fool is misquoting me. He does not know what he is talking about.
You remind me of the fox that was following the goat expecting the ‘nut’ to fall.
Down with you.
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kali / April 15, 2014
Let me give you a clue. Think of a Prof from Manchester University.
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Ragavan / April 15, 2014
WHO IS THIS IDIOT WHO IS INSULTING THE WRITER?. WHY IS HE CALLING HIMSELF THIRUKKURAL WHEN HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING?
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Antany Peter / April 15, 2014
“Only a great cultural heritage and righteous values could provide the world with people who are rich in humane values.” – President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Do you really deserve to talk about cultures? Do you have a credibility talk about cultures? You would not have been fighting since the independence, if you do really admire and love cultures. Don’t you think you are the least evolved people in Asia? During the final phase of the war thousands of people have been killed; but you have no remorse whatsoever, there wasn’t any mourning day for the people who have died during the war. But the people were dancing and celebrating. It shows your hatred towards your fellow countrymen. How can you call yourselves Buddhists while having no remorse for killed thousands of innocent people? Since the conclusion of the civil war you had enough ample time to recruit intellectual to strengthen your brain force to deal with many issues, but you didn’t. Cooperating with India, dealing with resettlements, and collaborating with Tamil diaspora to develop the North and East are few aspects of many issues, but most of the issues are unaddressed or handled poorly. I don’t want the West to intrude into the Indian Ocean under Tamils’ issues, but Tamils need a group of leaders from South Asia to sort out the Sri Lanka’s internal problem which can’t be fixed by you.
If you carry-on your racist approach based on the population then it will get ugly. French Canadians is less than 20% of the total population of Canada, but the French Canadians have equal rights. Canada had French Prime Minister. Punjabis are only 3% of the India’s population, yet India’s Prime Minister is a Punjabi. In Singapore only 5% of Tamils, but has a Tamil deputy Prime Minister and a Tamil Foreign Minister. How likely Sri Lanka having a Tamil President or Tamil Prime Minister? Absolutely nil, because of the racist Sinhalese majority. Why can’t Tamils have the same system as Canada or India? The Quebec government even control the immigration for their province in Canada. In fact Tamils also need the flexibility to control their immigration when they have racist Gota who enjoys dual citizenship for himself, but refuses dual citizenship for Tamils. Clearly the Sinhalese are the most racist race in the world. Tamils need equal rights, or divide the country, simple as that. Singapore is far smaller than Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Therefore, people can’t say that Sri Lanka is too small to divide.
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Ram / April 15, 2014
At times you attempt to masquerade as a a guy with moderate views, but the inherent racism comes out as it does here.
” The French Canadians have equal rights ” In Quebec an English speaker is at best ignored. No tourist literature is published in English nor can one get assistance from a French speaker, We do not want the NOrthern province to mimic Quebec. Yet we have granted equal rights to ALL Sri Lankan citizens. They can live anywhere in the country, and compete for jobs as equals.
” India’s Prime Minister is a Punjabi. In Singapore only 5% of Tamils, but has a Tamil deputy Prime Minister and a Tamil Foreign Minister. “
Minorities are well represented in government and the opposition. We had a much admired Foreign minister with international standing, yet he was murdered by his kith an kin in the Tamil community, a fact that was celebrated by the some ‘educated’ Tamils in Britain. He was murdered simply because he was working in harmony with the OTHERS.
Sri Lankans who DO NOT love their country, and discarded their passports when appearing as refugees and bogus asylum seekers in foreign lands, DO NOT deserve a Sri Lankan passport, though it seems that already some of the most undeserving amongst them have had the privilege bestowed upon them.
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Bensen burner / April 15, 2014
Even Thirukural has its limits and rationale. This does not apply to this president and his regime that are inhuman. Bensen
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Billa / April 16, 2014
Looks like Ram still doesn’t know who really killed the “much admired Foreign Minister” of criminal Lanka ? LTTE is a convenient party to put any killing of the state sponsored and the vested interest groups murders. People are misled by Sri Lankan media of lies, all the time…
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Thanga / April 16, 2014
Ram is shedding crocodile tears for Lakshman Kadirgamar. Everybody claims that Kadirgamar was easily the best foreign minister Sri Lanka ever had. He flew from one country to another pleading with countries to ban the LTTE as a terrorist organization. He succeeded in his mission. But when his name was touted for the office of the Prime Minister, Sinhalese extremists found he is a Thamil. Added to that he was a Christian. That was double disqualification. Mahinda Rajapaksa ran to the Mahanayaka Theros and pleaded that he a Sinhala – Buddhist should be appointed as the Prime Minister and not Kadirgamar. Rajapaksa succeeded and became Prime Minister despite the fact Kadirgamar had better qualifications. As for the ludicrous claim that Thamils have been granted equal rights to secure jobs, how come 95% of the jobs in public service are held by Sinhalese who constitute only 75% of the population? How many Thamils, compared to the Sinhalese, have gained admission to the law college during the last 10 years? As for living anywhere they like – what happened to the Thamils who lived in Hambantota, Galle, Matara, Panandura and other towns in the South prior to 1983? What about driving Thamils from their homes to create Sinhala settlements like in Weli Oya in the eighties? A total of 13,288 Tamil families living in 42 villages for generations including Kokkulai Grama Sevakar Division (1516 Tamil families), Kokku –Thoduvai Grama Sevakar Division (3306 Tamil families), Vavuniya North Grama Sevakar Division (1342 Tamil families), Other Divisions of Mullaitivu District including Naiyaru and Kumulamunai (2011 Tamil families) were asked to vacate their homes and farmlands within 48 hours on pain of eviction by force in case of default. This threat was issued by the army over the public address system.
Simultaneously land given to 14 Tamil entrepreneurs, including Kent Farm and Dollar Farm, on 99 years lease was also cancelled and taken over by the government. Settlements in the Weli Oya began in 1984 as a dry zone farmer colony under the land Commission, but it was later acquired by the Mahaveli Economic Agency in 1988 and declared as the Mahaveli ‘L’ zone. After successfully settling Sinhalese, Weli Oya is now attached back to the Mullaitheevu district forming an exclusive AGA’s division? Such examples of ethnic cleansing can be multiplied.
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