A Really Late Afterthought Part 1: Politics

Quit bending all my fingo
Quit beating me like you're Ringo
You wanna go?
You wanna win a war?
Like P.L.O don't surrendo
- M.I.A. Sunflowers

So if my grade 10 level math serves me correctly it has been two months since I came home from what could be considered the best trip to Sri Lanka ever. It has also taken me just as long to fully process two months spent in the motherland. Maybe it's because I've been spending a little too much one-on-one time with some politically charged press releases and reports I'm editing for work, but I think it's time to wade into Sri Lankan politics. As you can see this is 'part 1' of what will eventually be a really poorly thought out and sporadic series. I guess I'll be lucky if it doesn't peter out and die by the end of this post. But here goes...

*Warning: To my four loyal readers* This is pretty much a rehash of my last post. But it's my blog, and I can do what I want.

I wanted to blog about M.I.A. since February when she played the Drake, mostly because she irritated me. I did feel a bit of affliation with her because she grew up in England and has the whole indie thing down. And she has a killer style (or incredible stylist, but it might be too soon for that). I personally don't think her music is anything to call home about, her artwork however is really good. I think she should stick to designing CD covers. But the scenesters love her, and that's why I think in a weirdly subversive way, she's important to this post. You see they play 'Sunflowers' in American Eagle, Aiya got me a sampler CD from the Urban Outfitter's in Montreal and 'Galang' was on it. What's the big deal? Well her debut album Arular is named after her father who happens to be a member of the LTTE. He trained with the PLO . M.I.A. doesn't shy away from politics regardless of what she may say in the media, just look at her website, look at what her artwork is depicting?

I know I might be over hyping on her politics/political affliation but still. Do you think if folks out here truly understood the level of the conflict in Sri Lanka she'd be such hot indie property? Probably not, it's not like someone with Al Qaeda affliation is going to have a huge cult following when they launch a crappy dancehall album either. But she has a right to speak her mind about the politics of the war, after all she has been totally affected by it, just like many other Tamil immigrants in other parts of the world. What freaks me out though is that through her popularity she might be romanticizing the LTTE. Granted I think the Tamil people of Sri Lanka have a reason to be pissed off, but that doesn't legitimize the actions of the LTTE. 'Freedom Fighter' has a certain ring to it, a Che Guevera kind of thing that poorly groomed hipsters LOVE. A frightening result of that misguided love would be a romanticization of the Tiger movement.

Recently there have been a few 'skirmishes' on some Sri Lankan blogs I frequent about the role of non-resident Sri Lankans putting their two cents into political commentary. I'm of the opinion that just because I grew up in Canada doesn't mean that negates me from having a viable and legitimate opinion on things. Whether it be the recent assassination or the on going 'armed conflict.' It's unfortunate that there are people in Colombo who believe that since we grow up in the relative shelter of the west we have no understanding/haven't been touched by what's going on in Sri Lanka.

Even if I didn't have the chance to go back and visit as often as I do it is because of the events that have taken place in Sri Lanka that I'm here, in Toronto. If the 83 riots never happened, we would never have left. I have had classmates in elementary and junior high school whose lives have been absolutely ravaged because of the situation in Sri Lanka. The internal politics and issues have effected them far more than my cousins who are Sinhalese and live in Colombo far removed from any conflict could feel. Yet there are some in Sri Lanka who would rather listen to my Colombo cousins' take on things. Even though they go to posh schools, and live in what seems to be the lap of luxury.

To tell you the truth though, even after working at an NGO in Colombo which was dealing very specifically with government corruption, I still don't understand a whole lot about Sri Lankan politics. Just when I thought I had wrapped my brains around the method to the madness, it would elude me completely like the Scarlet Pimpernel. At least I have a bit of a better grasp on it, albeit a rather tenuous one.