It is unwise not to sing national anthem in Tamil
I write to express agreement with the views expressed by D.B.S. Jeyaraj in his three recent articles regarding the Government’s decision that the national anthem is to be sung only in Sinhala at the upcoming Independence Day celebrations to be held on 4 February this year.
I believe it is an unwise move and one that is likely to alienate many moderate and patriotic Tamils who would have been looking forward to joining wholeheartedly in the celebrations and to singing the national anthem in their own language.
I would endorse the views of Lionel Wijesiri who says that ‘patriotism is the over-arching glue needed to promote and develop a feeling of national unity and of pride in our country. Such feelings cannot, of course, be forged instantly but the principal elements’ as he remarks,’ are already in place, namely: 1.Our toleration of all four religions, 2. the principles of socialism & liberalism and 3. Recognition of the human rights and responsibilities of each and every citizen.
Kamanthi Wickremasinghe, writing on January 7, endeavouring to be objective and to present both points of view presents the opinions, among others, of Mano Ganesan and of Dr. Devanesan Nesiah who states that “There are 3 million Tamils, all Tamil speaking, and three million Muslims, for about half of whom Tamil is the mother-tongue, whose patriotism is intimately connected with the use of the mother-tongue. That should be understood and taken into consideration by Sinhalese-speaking Sri Lankans.”
I totally agree with Ravi Nagahawatte, who commenting in his article on 8th January, states “As mental wounds, caused by the disruption of the civil war slowly heal, the Government must not prevent the national anthem from being sung in Tamil.
As D.B.S. Jeyaraj points out: “Doing away with the singing of the national anthem in Tamil is a contradiction of the solemn pledge made by President Gotabaya Rajapakse at the Ruwanweliseya, of his intention to create an inclusive Sri Lanka under his presidency. Excluding one of our country’s two official languages from the singing of the national anthem at the 72nd Independence Day celebrations is certainly not ‘inclusive’ and amounts instead, to blatant discrimination.”
National integration is something Sri Lanka urgently requires but there is a difference between integration and assimilation. Assimilation is what is being advocated by Minister Janaka Bandara Tennekoon in his illadvised and totally illogical comments regarding the singing of the national anthem in Tamil.
He is displaying his utter ignorance and total inability to comprehend the concepts of national reconciliation and integration.
Premier Mahinda Rajapakse has subsequently announced however, that, contrary to what Minister Tennekoon said, no firm decision has yet been taken officially regarding the singing of the national anthem so there is still a possibility that it will be sung in both official languages at the Independence Day celebrations on February 4th. Being a moderate Sri Lankan I am hoping that discretion, better judgment, and wiser counsel will prevail in this regard and that we may see a period of peace, harmony and ethnic amity being ushered in during the year 2020.