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Patheeswarar Temple Issue
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
April 7th will be etched in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam annals as a day of
defeat. This humiliating defeat was not suffered in the battlefields of Tamil
Eelam. The enemy was not the armed forces of an oppressive Sinhala Buddhist
hegemonistic state.The victor this time was none other than "Dharma Devathai"
or the Goddess of Justice. Truth and Justice prevailed in a British Court. Tiger
minions in London brought upon themselves a wholly unnecessary , self -
inflicted debacle. Bharati' s immortal lines "Tharmathin Vaalvathanai Soothu
Kavvum; Tharmam marupadiyum vellum" became true!
Honourable Justice Tugendhat dismissed with costs the application made under
the freedom of worship act by the Sivayogam Trust of Tooting to keep the Eelap
Patheeswarar Sivan temple open. The defendants in this instance were the
landlords of the building housing the temple Pavitt Hall trust of the Brent North
and South Labour Party. The co - defendants were the four trustees of the
temple. The Sivayogam trust which claimed ownership of the temple through
questionable means had filed the injunction as the landlord had closed the
premises on the basis that the alleged transfer of ownership was illegal and
invalid.
The case was heard under the general parameters of property law. Explicitly the
dismissal suggests merely a failure of the Sivayougam trust to keep the temple
open. Implicitly however the dismissal indicates that the unjust attempt of the
Sivayogam trust to maintain ownership and control of the Alperton Sivan temple
had failed miserably. Since Nagenthiram Seevaratnam of the Sivayogam trust
and his accomplices were acting as agents and representatives of the LTTE the
ultimate defeat therefore is that of the tigers.
Philosophically the case was a blatant example of mans injustice to man. It was
also a tragic indicator of a liberation movement moving away from its original
ideals and objectives and deteriorating into a sordid oppressive apparatus
turning on its own people cruelly. The trauma and travail undergone by two
Alperton temple trustees at the hands of the LTTE in the Wanni had nothing
whatsoever to do with the professed rationale for LTTE existence - Tamil Eelam
Liberation.
In a sense it was not the LTTE or its front the Sivayogam trust that lost out on
April 7th. In the same vein it was not the Pavitt Hall trust or the four trustees who
won. The real losers were injustice, ingratitude, greed, cruelty, intimidation and
abuse of power; the real winners were justice, morality, humanism, courage and
above all the indomitable will of humankind in refusing submission to injustice
and oppression. It was this refusal to bow down to Sinhala Buddhist oppression
and repression that fuelled the Tamil liberation struggle at one point of time.
Though the LTTE has gone horribly wrong in this journey towards liberation the
quiet courage of four Tamils - themselves committed supporters of the Tamil
struggle for equality - refusing to cave in under overt and covert tiger pressure is
something all Eelam Tamils can be proud of. The guts displayed by the four
trustees Rajasingham Jeyadevan, Arumugam Kandiah Vivekananthan,
Perambalam Soundararajan and Tharmalingam Koneswaran to state the truth
fearlessly to court has resulted in the tigers being routed decisively.
As stated in these columns earlier the Alperton temple case was the result of
grave miscalcultion by the LTTE. The tigers overestimated their capacity to
terrify Tamils and underestimated the courage of some Tamils in standing up to
it. The four trustees - evoking images of the four horsemen of the apocalypse -
stood firm as the "Tamil world "created by the tigers crumbled. The clarion call
made centuries ago by Thirunavukkarasar or Appar Peruman " Naamaarkkum
Kudiyallom; Namanai Anjom" (We are slaves of no one; we shall not fear death)
echoes resonatingly again and again and again!
This triumph of justice and individual courage in the face of overwhelming
injustice and terror is a matter of great satisfaction to this writer. This column has
devoted much space over the past few weeks to the Rajasingham Jeyadevan
affair. Apart from recording in detail the relevant facts this column also predicted
the outcome of this case and even proffered "advice" to the LTTE to engage in
damage control. The tigers acted according to the proverbial Tamil saying
"Kedukudi Sot Kelathu" (those fated to decline will not heed advice). This column
persisted in writing about this issue consistently despite harassment, intimidation
and mudslinging because it felt that this was a matter that the Tamils must be
aware of.
The Rajasingham Jeyadevan affair has far reaching ramifications that go beyond
immediate specifics. There have been many cases of a similar nature. The
circumstances that led to this case being publicised created a new situation
where for the first time a formal complaint was lodged to Police in a Western
Country about a British resident being incarcerated in a foreign country to
coerce him into transferring property on British soil. The complaint was made by
Mrs. Manchuladevi Jeyadevan in a desperate move after exhausting all avenues
of securing her husbands release. Her action was truly reminiscent of Savithri
haggling with Yamadharmarajan to save her husband Sathiyavaan.
Another noteworthy factor in this issue was the courageous decision of the four
trustees to stand up to the LTTE. One fully empathises with these four as they
are all Tamil nationalists. Apart from the physical danger involved there is also
the mental agony of being forced to go against those supposedly espousing the
Tamil cause and running the risk of being dubbed traitors. It takes immense
courage to transcend this spiritual dilemma. This writer knows this only too well
because he has undergone the same experience and continues to suffer so.
This is a perpetual "Agnipareeksha" or " Road to Damascus" that every
Conscientious person has to experience. The things that sustain you in this are
your moral strength, commitment to principles and in the case of the religious
your faith in God.
What is obvious in the Jeyadevan case is that the LTTE evinced unbelievable
greed, cruelty, ingratitude and deceit. Jeyadevan was a man who had devoted
himself to the Tamil cause and served the LTTE faithfully and diligently. He was
inveigled into the Wanni under false pretences and held incomminicado along
with colleague Vivekananthan. He was pressured into transferring control of the
London Sivan temple. In spite of getting what they wanted the LTTE was not
prepared to let Jeyadevan go. The tigers went back on their assurances and
continued to hold him leading to his father in laws death. It was this conduct by
the LTTE that led to the family and friends defy the LTTE. Castro. Seevaratnam
and Anton Balasingham have a lot to answer for in this.
Even after returning to London Jeyadevan may have kept quiet if the LTTE had
quietly returned the temple with aplogies and entreties not to upset the Tamil
cause. But the tigers acted with a foolish arrogance that is truly mind - boggling.
After inflicting so much hardship on Jeyadevan and getting the temple
transferred they were not ready to let him go earlier. Now they clung on to the
temple procured through despicable methods. The tigers precipitated their
downfall further by taking the matter to court. Let it be remembered that it was
not the temple trustees who went to court but Seevaratnam of the LTTE seeking
an injunction.
It was pointed out in these columns earlier that the LTTE had blundred greatly by
going to courts. This column stated that with the matter going to courts the
trustees will be constrained to state openly all what had transpired. This is what
happened and the four trustees submitted their witness statements and got
enjoined as co - defendants. Seevaratnam and henchmen embarked on an ill -
fated campaign to intimidate the trustees. This failed miserably and the result
was a foregone conclusion. Again this column advocated an out of court
settlement to minimise the possible damage to the LTTE. The tigers however
persisted in their stupidity and got their petition dismissed with costs.
This column pointed out that the LTTE was proscribed as a terrorist organization
in Britain and that by going to courts the tigers were drawing negative attention
to themselves. The behaviour of the tigers in London was unbelievably stupid
given the fact that they were banned terrorists. Yet the march to folly continued.
As predicted in these columns the Judge did refer to this aspect. He remarked
that while perusing the material presented to him there was corroborative
evidence that two trustees had been taken captive in Sri Lanka for the temple to
be transferred to Sivayogam Trust. In what was possibly a damning indictment
the Judge expressed concern about the violation of Terrorism Act 2000 under
which the LTTE was banned in Britain. He declined to make further judgement on
it as it was outside the remit of the injunction originally granted.
Some of the salient points regarding the case were presented by one of
Jeyadevans lawyers - Paul Ridge of Bindman and partners - in a press release
.Excerpts from that will help understand the essence of what went on in court on
April 7th. Relevant details are as follow
" The Court rejected Sivayogam's application for the continuation of an injunction
and in practical terms effectively lost in their bid to claim the temple. It is believed
that this will now bring an end to proceedings.
The matter is complex I n this case Sivayogam has been arguing that they are
entitled to run the Temple at Pavitt Hall. They obtained an injunction preventing
the four leaseholders (trustees) from entering the Temple and today argued that
this should continue.
On taking over the Temple on 2 March 2005 they installed their own priest and
made various changes to the form of worship. When the landlord and trustees
objected an injunction was obtained without notice. At this point the Court had
only heard their side of events. They had applied to court just before Easter and
the Court was faced with a difficult decision and granted the injunction in
ignorance of the full facts.
Today's hearing was almost 3 hours and the Judge had read a large bundle of
documents in excess of 150 pages. Following detailed argument the Court
rejected Sivayogam's application. The Court also ordered Sivayogam to pay
costs which (with their costs included) will be in excess of £25,000.
The Judge dealt with the matter as a question of property law. He could not
decide upon the arguments about how the documents came about and the
merits of who manages the temple. He did not make a ruling on this issue but did
make some key findings.
The first was that the Temple should remain open. He was satisfied that both
parties wanted to keep the Temple open. He confirmed that the trustees had
been in occupation for 6 years and had effective control of the Temple and that
this is the general "status quo". He found Sivayogam had been in occupation for
just 3 weeks and this was a temporary matter. He ordered the status quo to be
resumed. The Court found that there had been no assignment of the Lease to
the Temple and any document claiming an assignment was of no effect.
The Court found that it was common ground that the lease between the
landlords and the tenants was in force and binding. Although the documents
were signed, no right was given to Sivayogam. The court said it would be
manifestly unfair if an injunction were allowed to continue. The Judge found the
landlords and tenants were in one mind and should carry on as before. He found
the landlords could be prejudiced if there was a change. Looking at matters as a
whole he found that it was preferable that the tenants resumed occupation and
run the Temple as they have done for the last 6 years. He could find no degree
of assurance that Sivayogam would win if this matter came to trial.
With all of this in mind the Judge dismissed their application for an injunction.
The Claimants said at Court that they had issued proceedings within Willesden
County Court. No details of their claim were provided and it was difficult to know
the basis that Sivayogam proceeded upon. In light of the decision of the
Honourable Mr Justice Tugendhat and that the Governors of Pavitt Hall have no
wish to see Sivayogam in occupation, the proceedings in Willesden County Court
are pointless".
According to informed sources close to the LTTE circles of London Seevaratnam
had not realised the implications of the case in full and wanted to fight on
treating the matter as a prestige issue. Saner counsel within LTTE circles had
prevailed somewhat belatedly. As a result the tigers threw in the towel even as
they were down for the count.
One person who desrerves credit for persuading the LTTE hierarchy to accept
reality was its political Commissar Suppiah Paramu Thamilselvan currently
touring Europe. Thamilselvan had to meet several officials and tiger activists who
bombarded him with questions about Jeyadevan. Realising that the LTTE had no
choice but to give in Tamilselvan spoke at length with his leader Velupillai
Pirapakaran and pleaded with him to get Castro to instruct Seevaratnam to drop
the matter completely and save at least what was left of tiger respect in London.
Earlier Thamilselvan had spoken to Castro from Europe in what was described
as a "shouting match". Castro was adamant that the LTTE should hold on to the
Alpetron Temple at whatever cost because it was a prestige issue for the LTTE.
Thamilselvan had argued that it was a lost battle and that the tigers should
withdraw from the case and temple to salvage their reputation. The tiger
supremo like his deputy Thamilselvan realised that the battle was over and that
the time was ripe for strategic withdrawal. He instructed Castro to call it quits.
Thereafter Castro ordered Seevaratnam to give up fighting the case further.
Attempts were aso made to contact some relatives and friends of Jeyadevan and
"settle" the matter. It was however too late as the case was taken up on
Thursday. During a brief recess Seevaratnam spoke again to Castro who
ordered him to hand over the temple and temple property without delay.
So in a dramatic turn around a reluctant Seevaratnam instructed his lawyers to
inform solicitors of the other side that they were prepared to hand over
everything belonging to the temple and the temple keys that evening itself. The
lawyers of both sides discussed matters and agreed to appoint an outside third
party as administrator to oversee the transfer. A British citizen of Guyanese
brahmin descent was duly appointed.
The transfer took place from 5. 30 pm on April 7th. Seevaratnam however was
absent and it was his assistant Kamalsingham who was present. The keys and
valuable items like jewellery, vessels, chanks and Conches were handed over
without a hitch.There were however some problems
It was discovered that the "Undiyals" (collection tills) were cleaned out and
empty. It was also found that the "archanai" tickets for worship sold at the
Alperton temple were those of the Sivayogam trusts Amman temple at Tooting.
The tigers informed the trustees that they had not banked any money in the
Alperton temple bank account. The fate of about 15, 000 pounds in the temple
account is yet "unknown".
Seevaratnam is also playing "truant" in signing the statutory forms and bank
mandate to be returned to the legal trustees. When the administrator went to
Seevaratnams house the defeated tiger representative threatened to "slipper"
him. He also tampered with the forms and invalidated them by scribbling on them
in a pathetic exhibition of puerile pique. The lawyers however are planning to
take up the matter in courts if Seevaratnam continues in this manner. If that
happens Seevaratnam will be hauled up for contempt of court and mischief.
Meanwhile the detectives at New Scotland Yard are continuing with their
investigations into the case. A special team visited Anton Balasingham last week
and recorded his statement. It is expected that the investigations will take a while.
Even if over soon no meaningful action is expected until the keenly awaited
elections are over. Regardless of the electoral verdict constructive action is
expected soon after. The Jeyadevan affair has rung alarm bells in many
Countries having Tamil expatriates. Consequences are to be expected.
Meanwhile Jeyadevan and Vivekananthan were interviewed for two hours by the
London based Tamil Broadcasting Corporation on that eventful April 7th. Both of
them spoke candidly about their tragic experience. It was perhaps one of the
most authentic accounts to be aired about the atrocious conduct of the LTTE.
Apart from enjoying a record number of listeners in London and Europe the
program was also heard around the globe via internet. It is still available on
internet and is being downloaded and listened to widely.
Despite the legal reversal some tigers in London at least are yet to learn their
lesson. Four youths in an inebriated state participated in Alprton Temple pooja in
the evening. After leaving the temple they made loud remarks threatening the
trustees and threw the coconuts at the parked vehicle of the Brahmin priest and
damaged it. Police are making inquiries. Will the London tigers continue to
engage in violence over the Alperton Temple issue is a troubling question.
Even more troubling is the larger question of what the LTTE will do in the future.
The conduct of "Mathiuraingar" Anton Stanislaus Balasingham and
Veerakulasingham Manivannan alias Castro in the Jeyadevan affair is
disastrously despicable. The issue has undermined the LTTE in the eyes of its
supporters abroad considerably. Most tiger supporters are shaken and upset by
this. "it could be us tomorrow" is the often unspoken refrain. All eyes are on the
man described as the Tamil national leader by his followers. What will the
"thesiyath Thalaivar" do ?
Witness
Rajasingham
Jayadevan
[Contd.]
Witness
AK
Vivekanandan
[Contd.]
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