{"id":98557,"date":"2020-02-02T14:02:04","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T21:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98557"},"modified":"2020-02-02T14:06:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T21:06:56","slug":"no-comstitutional-provision-to-sing-national-anthem-in-tamil-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/02\/no-comstitutional-provision-to-sing-national-anthem-in-tamil-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"No Comstitutional Provision to sing National Anthem in Tamil \u2013 Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

By A.A.M.NIZAM Matara<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

During\nthe reign of President R.Premadasa in accordance with a directive of the\nMinister of Communications the broadcast of National Anthem in Tamil in the\nTamil channels of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation was banned and instead\nonlythe musical notes were broadcast. When this directive was issued by\nPremadasa none  of the so-called Although\nthe hypocrite Chandrika nowspeaks veery much about and for the Tamils, when she\ncame to power in 1994 even the broadcast of that musical notes were suspended\nand only the Sinhala version was broadcast. Then so-called Tamil separatists,\nand NGO cultures did noy utter a word against Premadasa\u2019s measure as they knew\nthat doing so would subject them to Premadasa\u2019s death squad and they would get\ntyre [yre treatment or burn alive treatment meted out to Wijewwwea.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\n1978 Republican Constitution Sri Lanka\u2019sNational Anthen has been declared as\nthe Sri Lanka Maatha\u201d together with its musical notes. The constitution has\nalso listed Tamil version Sri Lanka Thaaye\u201d (Maathaa) translated by\nK.Kanagaratnam together with the English version.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The terroristproxy\nand the worst racist to fanction as the Tamil rcist gang withth eimminent death\nsoon of racist grandpa the 86 ear old Sambandan has told the medua that the decision\nto sing the national anthem only in Sinhala during official functions was part\nof a plan to make Tamils second class citizens, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of\ntaking steps to promote unity and reconciliation; the Gotabaya Rajapaksa\nadministration was taking steps to widen the gap between the people, the MP\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When the\nSirisena\/Wickremesinghe administration came to power in 2015, the national\nanthem was sung bth in Tamil at the Independence Day for the first time. I took\npart in the independence day celebration with TNA leader, R. Sampanthan. It was\nthe first time that ITAK representatives attended an independence day\ncelebration in decades.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nDuring the 2015 Independence Day celebrations, a number of steps had been taken\nto promote reconciliation, Sumanthiran said. However, after President Rajapaksa\nhad been elected a number of steps were taken to roll back the progress.\n“The decision against singing the national anthem in Tamil was a part of\nthis. If the government wants the Tamils not to sing the national anthem, we\nwill be glad not to sing it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Tamil\npeople have rejected a Sri Lankan identity because their just and democratic\ndemands have not been met”, Sumanthiran said, adding that the Tamil people\nneeded more political rights and then only would Tamils become equal citizens\nof Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Ranjith\nSoysa, resident in Australia commenting on opposition of the Yamil Nadu racist\npolitical outfits DMK,\nand caste basedPMK said that it is not necessary to sing the Sri Lankan\nnational anthem in Tamil at the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we reject the view point of the\nTamil Nadu\u2019s racist politicians interference in a Sri Lankan  domestic\nissue, which the Sri Lankan Government  has the capability of examining in\ndetail and taking their own decisions for the benefit of the country. We have\nto reiterate that by making various strident noises concerning Sri Lankan\nTamils the Indian politicians are attempting in vain to prove that they are the\nsaviors of Sri Lankan Tamils which places the Sri Lankan Tamils in an awkward position\nin relation to Sri Lankan nation state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to the Sri Lankan Nataional\nAnthem, it was the blunder made by the previous Government which  allowed\na translated song to be accepted as a national anthem in Tamil whereas the\ncountry should have a single National Anthem, The translated Tamil version of\nthe  national anthem has number of words\nwhich are different to the original including the term,  Sri Lanka Matha\u2019\nThe action should be taken urgently to rectify this aspect and replace the\noriginal song, The national anthem can be  written in Tamil ,but it should\nnot be a translation. The government must get its teeth to this issue urgently\nwithout any delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the Tamil Nadu racists politicians Mr.  Soysa said that we request them to look after\ntheir back yard by requesting or demanding the Central Government of India to\nget them the approval to sing a translated Indian Anthem in Tamil. We await to\nhear the response from the Central Indian Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canada based terrorist proxy scribe\nD.B.S.Jeyaraj ijn a recent article published on 4th<\/sup> January states\nthat <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • 1956\n parliamentary polls a watershed in SL\u2019s political history <\/li>
  • Tamils\n persisted with agitation cum negotiation strategy to restore rights <\/li>
  • Independence\n from the British only resulted in bondage under Sinhalese <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

     He says the situation\nchanged in 1956 when the coalition led by S.W.R. D. Bandaranaike gained power.\nBandaranaike became Prime Minister and made Sinhala the sole official language.\nIt was indeed noteworthy that the Tamil version of the national anthem\ncontinued to be in use even after Sinhala was made the sole official language\nin 1956. While the Sinhala version was sung in most official functions in\nColombo and Sinhala-majority provinces, the Tamil version was sung in\nTamil-majority areas and Tamil medium schools. This accommodative attitude was\ndisplayed even after Sinhala was made the sole official language and Tamil had\nno official status at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It was common in those days for\nselected school bands and choirs to render the national anthem in Sinhala and\nTamil. What is remarkable is that though the Tamil language held no official\nstatus then, the more enlightened governments of the day had no qualms about\nthe national anthem being sung in the Tamil language in Tamil-medium schools or\nofficial functions in predominantly Tamil-speaking regions. 
    \n
    \nJeyaraj states that the political landscape of the island began to change from\nwhat it was at the time of independence. The parliamentary elections of 1956\nwere a watershed in the political history of the island. The UNP that was in\npower from 1947 was defeated. As mentioned earlier, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party\n(SLFP) led by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike swept the polls as part of a coalition\nknown as Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP). Bandaranaike became the fourth Prime\nMinister of Ceylon. It was a different story in the North and East. The\nIllankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) led by S.J.V. Chelvanayagam won ten of the\nsixteen seats in the Northern and Eastern  Provinces. Two of them were\nMuslim majority constituencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The party known as the Federal\nParty(FP) in English espoused the goal of federalism. Even as the 1956 victory\nhailed as a people\u2019s revolution ushered in a new government of the common\npeople described as Apey Aanduwe\u201d (our government), the state of ethnic\nrelations in the country deteriorated drastically. Sinhala had been declared\nthe sole official language of the country. Protests by Tamil politicians were\ndisrupted through violence. Attempts to resolve the crisis through political\narrangements like the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Agreement were aborted because\nof extremist opposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One of the earliest casualties in\nthis conflict-ridden atmosphere was the Tamil perception of independence. The\nadvent of FP and rise of Tamil nationalism saw the Tamil polity being asked to\ntreat Freedom Day as a day of mourning. The rationale was that independence\nfrom the British had only resulted in bondage under Sinhalese. There was only a\nchange of masters. Hence, Independence Day was nothing to celebrate about, but\nonly to be observed as a black day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These protests underwent a change after the Republican Constitution\nof 1972. Thereafter, May 22 too was observed as a black day. February 4 lost a\nlittle of its significance. The UNP Government elected in 1977 ushered in a new\nConstitution in 1978 thereby doing away with Republican Day and Republican\nConstitution. The symbolism of black flags on Independence Day however\ncontinued. The escalation of the conflict and resultant suffering made the very\nconcept of independence meaningless to Tamils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\nConstitution of 1978, ushered in by the UNP regime and led by J.R. Jayewardene,\nprovided national language status to the Tamil language. It also granted\nConstitutional status to the national anthem. Clause 7 of the Constitution\nsays: The national anthem of Sri  Lanka shall be \u2018Sri Lanka Matha,\u2019 the\nwords and music of which are set out in the third schedule.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tamil\nreceived national language but not official language status in the 1978\nConstitution. The national anthem in Sinhala was given constitutional status\nthrough Clause 7 of the same Constitution. However, the Tamil translation was\nalso given constitutional recognition by way of the third schedule to the\nseventh clause. The official gazette as well as copies of the 1978 Constitution\npublished in Tamil had the Tamil words of the national anthem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tamil\nreceived elevation as an official language along with Sinhala by way of the\n13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1987. Tamil as an official language\nreceived further enhancement in the administrative and legislative spheres\nthrough the 16th Amendment to the Constitution in 1988. Sections 18 and 19 of\nthe Constitution clearly state that Tamil is both an official and national\nlanguage of Sri Lanka. The elevation of Tamil as an official language provided\ngreater impetus for the national anthem to be sung in Tamil, but events had\nbegun to overtake and these concessions on the language front were beginning to\nbe seen as part of the too little, too late\u201d syndrome in volatile\npolitics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the evolving new situation of\nethnic conflict, the practice of singing the national anthem went out of\ncirculation in Tamil polity for more than three decades. The politics of ITAK\nand later the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) created an environment where\nalternative Tamil State\u201d anthems were being sung at political meetings.\nAt least three different songs were in use then. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    English, Chinese (Mandarin),\nMalay and Tamil are recognised as official languages in Singapore but Malay is\nregarded as the national language. It must be remembered that independent\nSingapore was part of the \u2018Straits Settlements\u2019 during the British colonial\nrule .After gaining freedom from the British, Singapore remained part of\nMalaysia until it was expelled and attained independence somewhat reluctantly.\nUnder those circumstances, it was considered appropriate that the national\nanthem be in Malay only. Translations are available in English, Mandarin and\nTamil but only Malay could be used to sing the national anthem in official\nfunctions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thus, in Singapore where the\nnational anthem is in a minority\u201d language, there was an imperative need to\ndebar translations and insist upon Malay alone being used officially to sing\nthe national anthem. If translations were allowed, the Mandarin or English\nversion could swamp the Malay version. But this is not the case in Sri  Lanka\nwhere Sinhala is firmly entrenched as the language of the majority and primary\nofficial language. It is the Tamil language that requires special measures and\nguarantees in the present situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The Rajapaksa regime under\nMahinda did not ban the Tamil national anthem legally but saw to it that\nsinging the national anthem in Tamil was forbidden in day-to-day affairs. The\nsubterfuge adopted was that of maintaining the status quo overtly while\nnegating the practice of singing the national anthem on ground. It was stated\nthat there was no change and that constitutional provisions remained. Thus, it\nwas said that singing the national anthem was a right that prevailed and had\nnot been taken away. An unofficial diktat however was strictly enforced by\nwhich schools and government institutions were discouraged\u201d from singing the\nnational anthem in Tamil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


    \nThings however changed with the regime\nchange in 2015. The government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime\nMinister Ranil Wickremesinghe restored the singing of the national anthem in Tamil.\nIt created a precedent in 2016 of ensuring the singing of the national anthem\nin Tamil.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\nso-called quasi-Independennce we received from the British Imperialists in 1948\nretained in the hands of British imperialists the golowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Rights of operating and the\nadministration of the Colombo Poty;<\/li>
    2. Rights of operating and\nadministrationof the Kayunayake airport and the aircraft hangers adjacent to\nit. <\/li>
    3. Rights of operating and\nadministration of the Ratmalana airport.<\/li>
    4. Rights of operating and\nadministration of the Trincomalee harbour and the adjoining Oil Tank Farm of\n100 tanks<\/li>
    5. Comtinue to consider the Queen of\nEngland as the Head of State.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      The people;\u2019s government of Prime Minister\nrescued from and annulled all rights of operation and administration of all our\nports and airports in the hands of British government and declare tyhen as the\nproperties belonging to the government of Sri Lanka.  In order to get the rights of ownership of\nthe Trinhciomalee Oil Tank Farm the Babndaranaike hovernment had to pay\nSterling Poinds 250,000 to the British Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In addition tio this Britiain was in\ncharge of mainting Sri LKanka\u2019s Foreign Policy. \nDue to thism for instance Sri Lanka was unable to permit a Russian\nFootball Team to come for playing a friendly match in Colombo during Sir John\nKotalawala\u2019s government.  Yje\nBandaranaike government took over the charge of Sri Lanka;s Foreign Policy  and declared that the country will maintain\nfriendly relations with all countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Another main obstavle was Queen if England\nremaining the Head of State of Sri Lanka. \nIt was due to this handicap that Sri Lanka was unable to convict the\nculprits of those who staged a Coup against the government in 1962 and all the\nculprits got freed by aclemency extended by the Queen of England.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Similarly when the JVP carders staged 1971\nrebellopn, tyhey were prosecuted as staging a rebellion against the Queen of\nEngland.  This handicap remained until\nMadam Sirimavo Bandartaqnaike rescued and liberated the country from all\nforeign bondages and declared Sri Lanka a Republic under the Republic\nConstitution.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      So the time has come now for us to restore\nour free and sovereign status and to put final end yo yhr quasi-Independence\nDay celebrations,  Let 4th<\/sup>\nFebruary this year as the last Quasi-Independence Day Celebration and consider\n22nd<\/sup> May as our Republic Day from this twae onwards.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      By A.A.M.NIZAM Matara During the reign of President R.Premadasa in accordance with a directive of the Minister of Communications the broadcast of National Anthem in Tamil in the Tamil channels of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation was banned and instead onlythe musical notes were broadcast. When this directive was issued by Premadasa none  of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aamnizam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}