Party time, but how in the name of federalism did we get here?
It was an enduring image to see Zanano Gusman, the poet and the cultural dilettante, of course the President of East Timor and successful revolutionary, having to be restrained by his armed forces, in the face of an onslaught by a rampaging mob. It is correct the students were not rioting against him or his presence, but it was still ironical all the same that the revered leader had to stop a fight which has developed into a tumultuous uprising that seemed to threaten the very fabric of democratic politics in this young country.

East Timor was ushered into the club of nations with euphoria. Sri Lanka's new political adventure is being ushered into the consciousness of the international community with even more rapturous euphoria. Even UB 40 is here, and instead of chiming "I can't help falling in love with you" UB 40 is granting interviews on how Sri Lanka has become a citadel of peace in a world of aggressive powers playing truant.

Maybe the international community gets some vicarious delight - a kick? - out of seeing a society being caught up in a whirlpool of 'change' and transition, but this is no good for the inhabitants of this island called Sri Lanka who will have to live with the result of the current political transformation.

As it is in East Timor there is a wake up call that is bound to come sometime, when the country will be challenged in ways which the current actors probably still cannot imagine.

What is been seen now is a slow coming together of forces.

This week, I saw some pro Sinhala sentiments coming down a notch before my eyes. Political Sinhala Buddhists (as opposed to pragmatic Sinhala Buddhists who are rooted in reality ) seemed to watch the unfolding events and say 'oh well - if federalism is what they want, then we are ready for it even though it was not done - the way they won these federal concessions.''

It was none other that the US Deputy Foreign Secretary of State, that familiar granite-slab looking figure who said (when asked about his last promotion in the State Department ranks) that "The more you climb up the flagpole, the more your ass shows''?

In Sri Lanka, peace moves are going places, but also, the ass is beginning to show flagrantly at least in some places. But, peace may yet arrive.

It is not so much just the peace, but the long term sustainability of the Sri Lankan nation that needs to come into the spectrum of vision when one talks 'peace.' We are told that Sri Lanka is the only peace beacon amidst all of the fractious war-mongering nations that populate the earth. But, it is apparently not so. For instance, in Aech, in Indonesia, the Aech rebels are about to sign a peace accord. Apparently the Aech independence movement which seeks a separate state in this strongly Muslim region off the tip of Sumatra, is not being 'widely supported internationally' because there is a fear that independence for Aech will trigger similar separatist putsches in the Iriyan Jaya and other volatile regions in the Indonesian archipelago. This it is feared will destabilise the South Asian region.

But, short of this consideration, the international community is for Aech self-determination, even to the extent of Aech secession from Indonesia. For the moment however, a peace accord has been hatched, and is about to be signed.

Guess what? A Tokyo meeting sponsored by Japan, the US and the European Union decided to send a team to Aech, after the peace accord is signed, to find out how much money is needed to help recovery efforts in the war torn province. Sounds familiar isn't it?

If there is a process, however slow and incremental of dismembering nations, it seems to be happening 'out there' meaning that it is not happening in the developed regions which undertake these peace initiatives. On the other hand, in those parts of the (donor) world, countries seem to be coming together, such as seen in the EU example, as opposed to the dismemberment tendencies that are seen in parts of the world more familiar to us.

Sri Lanka needs to solve its problem and if the current peace initiatives return something by way of a workable solution it will be difficult to find anybody who will not heave a sigh of relief. A sigh of relief that will signify only that it is good to have the long national nightmare finally at end.

But , being relieved does not certainly translate as being happy, and that is the difference. If the conflict is over, it does not mean that Sri Lanka should escape the reality that we need not have had this spectre of separatism hanging over its head. Even the enthusiasts both among the 'Sinhala nationalists' and others see Federalism,, as a possible first encounter with the reality that separatism might follow. But yet, people support federalism as a way out. They want to breathe that sigh of relief.

If peace does come, well and good, but what of this march towards ' separation, division and dismemberment?'' In plain terms, why so much rejoicing when East Timor is created, or when Aech is created, or when Tamil Eelam might be created?

What is in it for us, not the Tamils or the Sinhalese or the Muslim of Aech, but for the people of this part of the world as opposed to the part of the world, that underwrite and sponsor these peace agreements?

As Zanano Guzman found out there might be nothing much more in it than even more turmoil and turbulence. ( Students in east Timor rioted because they were unhappy with the regime and the new force, which are largely composed of jobless ex- rebels. Sure a lot of us are for peace at many costs, even if not peace at any cost.

But why do we have to go down this road, when strangely the donor nations, from some unfathomable (surprise, surprise?) reason keep underwriting peace agreements in other countries, while holding their own together, and even coming further together, as if the urge to merge is the gift of life and longevity for their nations?

As we go into the twilight of federalism, and before we party into the night any further, it might be worth just ruminating about these thoughts, even though precious little, maybe, can be done about them?

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