The Mahavamsa (a history of Sri Lanka) is full of conflicts between generals and kings. Usually, the more bloodthirsty and unscrupulous would win. Our current (elected) ruler Mahinda Rajapaksa has had his own general conflicts, namely with one Sarath Fonseka. In the old days Fonseka would have staged a coup, as in literally try to cut of Mahinda’s head, and Mahinda would – if that failed – tie him to four elephants and split his parts asunder. Can’t do that shit anymore. Instead Fonseka ran for office and lost and Mahinda tossed him in jail.

Sri Lanka is going to start offer dual citizenship again, for people of Sri Lanka descent (ie, those who migrated or their kids). Which is good. Still not an actual immigration policy, but getting, well getting back to the status quo. I got dual citizenship years ago.

When Obama announced his (legally unbinding) support for gay marriage, he cited gay people he knows – members of his staff, friends, families, neighbors, soldiers. When Joe Biden pre-announced his personal opinion, he cited Will And Grace. I’d say Modern Family. Both TV shows, humanizing gay families and bringing them into American homes. Which is how it happens. Exposure, basically. I think that’s how reconciliation and social justice ultimately happen.

I started off not really liking General Sarath Fonseka, him being part of the aggressive war effort. I didn’t support the war (largely cause I thought it would fail), and I thought Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Fonseka were gleefully stomping everything. Fonseka even came out and said “I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people,” in 2008 (National Post). Then when he ran for President in 2010, he won mainly in minority areas. Which shows you how things can change.

General Sarath Fonseka was arrested on a bunch of trumped up charges, but mainly for daring to threaten Mahinda in a Presidential election. Despite his poor health, Fonseka was arrested in February 2010 and sentence to three years. Word on the street now, however, is that he’ll be released soon. Like any day now. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told the Hindu so, so it looks like the General will be out soon. Without his title, a proper house or much shot at power, but out still.

Yesterday I wrote about the opposition JVP May Day rallies. These are some photos from marches on the other side of town, near Town Hall, led by the government and presumably paid for by you and me. They seem to bus people in (in government buses), clothe them in propaganda t-shirts and presumably feed and perhaps libate them as well. I generally enjoy the May Day floats and stuff, but I do rather dislike the use of public funds for what essentially amounts to a partisan political rally.

May Day is International Workers Day, which has taken on a distinctly commie tint. In Sri Lanka the JVP traditionally goes all out on my street, but this year I noticed that the government had also bused a lot of people in to have their own demonstrations. I assume they always do that, I just noticed it. JVPers were mocking effigies of Mahinda in Dehiwela and people were wearing ‘Mahinda: Our Hero’ t-shirts near Town Hall. May Day floats are fun and I watched them go down my street. I’m not so happy about the government spending my money to have their own demonstrations, however.

Today me and Isura will be presenting at Refresh Colombo. The title of the presentation is ‘digital democracy’, which is usually a vague and pointless subject. What we’ll be talking about is a specific idea, built upon existing work that Isura has been doing with Sarvodaya. I should emphasize that this is an idea and what we’ll present is not so much as a presentation as a request for support. I have no slides and this blog post is my notes.

Eelam is an inherently divisive idea and Karunanidhi espouses it only in the most cynical manner. Sri Lankas races are mixed and dividing up the land isn’t a solution. So there’s a racial defined state in the North and East – what about the Tamils in Colombo, where minorities are a majority? What about Kandy or Hill Country? Like in India, equality has to transcend race and be national in scope. Unless you want to experience the fun of partition, a la Pakistan.

My general impression is that Tamil Nadu parties like the DMK are fundamentally unserious about reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Like Karunanidhi’s six hour fast between meals to end the war, his party is now taking a farcical stance to not even visit Sri Lanka on a Parliamentary tour. A lot of opposition MPs have pulled out, with Vaiko (who wasn’t even coming) saying, essentially, that they shouldn’t visit till Eelam, Karunanidhi’s ‘unrealized dream‘.