TamilNet sort of lost it when the war ended. TamilNet, if you’re unaware, was the LTTE mouthpiece then an anti-KP mouthpiece and now a chewed off rump LTTE mouthpiece. Occasionally (coincidentally moreso) they do mete out some news, but lately I read them more for entertainment value. I especially enjoy their ‘Features’ which are meandering exhortations to separatism and denunciations of the usual suspects. My favorite feature of the features is that major opinions are cited to ‘Tamil circles’ or sometimes just Tamils. For example – “Do they think it is easier to drive the people into corporate slavery by retaining the present conditions, Tamils wonder.” Most Tamils I know are not possessed of such a Borg mind but what do I know.

The General is in jail and threatened with hanging. The terrorist international mastermind is also in jail, but giving guided tours to diasporals. Other former terrorists are Ministers, getting perks and singing at weddings. It all seems rather topsy-turvy, but if you look at it right it makes sense. The LTTE is gone. It’s all about fealty now, and the threat is international. I say fealty and not loyalty because any allegiance is temporary. And the fealty to whom is obvious, Mahinda Rajapaksa. That is the defining narrative they are pushing, and that is all that makes this jumble of old enemies and new allies makes sense. It’s also the narrative that describes the international pissing contests with the EU and UN. It’s all about the big dog now and whether you’re with him or in the sea.

Couples are seated at tables with Ministers, Generals and movie stars. They are hemmed in a solid square by soldiers, lackeys and cameramen. Family and friends watch the scrum from a distance, fifty feet away. These are token couples, swarmed by media, tokenizing the event and obstructing the view for everyone actually there. If you wander back, however, some couples are sitting almost entirely alone.

I like MIA’s music, the new single XXXO is pretty good. Her politics are I think worse than wrong headed, they’re spray paint ignorant. There’s very interesting article on her in the New York Times magazine. Her musical progression has been interesting, as is the history, but the best part is the sheer absurdity of some of the quotes, the juxtaposition between here black-and-white, jingoistic politics and the reality of her life. My favorite is the one about the bread rolls.

I think the end of war has left a big void. It’s not that one enjoyed the elephant in the room, but the place seems a bit empty since its left. I remember watching the news in Singapore. It was about building hospitals and helping kids and stuff. I was terrified. I couldn’t wait to get back to the chaos of Sri Lanka. But now that chaos is somewhat stilled, or at least reached a new baseline. Things are still fucked up, but not magnificently, lyrically so. It takes some getting used to.

There are tanks on Galle Face Green. This either means we’re attacking Africa, or it’s interdependence day. That is, the anniversary of the end of war. I was reading an article on Groundviews by Kusal Perera hopelessly disparaging the current ‘regime’ and saying that the core issue has been unsolved this past year. It was a bit long and I skimmed, but I don’t agree. It makes it sound like everything’s a mess and it’s not. I think Mahinda Rajapaksa has solved the major issue in Sri Lanka and I thank him for it. The war is over and for this I give him due props.

I occasionally read TamilNet. Like crossing a mosquito bite, reading the (formerly?) LTTE news outlet has its perverse and pointless pleasure. Lately, post-war really, it has descended into absurdity. Aside from the spate of abductions in the North that only it and the Tamil papers seem to cover, the website is full of delusional and racist editorials and assorted sputtering. I’m not saying I expect anything else, but the latest boycott I saw went pretty deep into the absurd and came back without breaking a sweat. It’s a half naked woman with ACTIVISM painted across her boobs, belying a broad incomprehension of whatever she’s campaigning for. Pretty much the modern state of affairs.

There’s this giant bull statue at the top of Chamundi Hill, Mysore. We took the motorbike up there, but not for the bull, but to crawl into the cave and chat with the Swami. He was a journalist before he renounced the world and went wandering in the Himalayas, for seven years I think. Then he’d come and taken care of this temple, most of the time in this cave, I guess.

Muslim IDPs have largely been forgotten. When the LTTE tried to ethnically cleanse the north they marched Muslims out of their homes with little notice.This was twenty years ago, and they still have not been able to resettle in their homes. Tamil IDPs of the most recent phase of war have gotten the most attention, but the older Muslim IDPs have not. Another forgotten group is those displaced and now in India. I think the right position is that everyone should get to go home, and that this should be a top priority of the next President.

Kilinochchi was the de facto LTTE capital. It is now bombed out and abandoned. There are houses without roof and roofs without houses. That is, every building in Kili has been bombed and has no roof. Further down the road, people live in hovels made of roofing material. It’s an eerie place. What’s more eerie is that they’ve set up a vegetable market near some of the ruins while people stop to take pictures. Including me.