{"id":98760,"date":"2020-02-06T15:48:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T22:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98760"},"modified":"2020-03-09T17:45:32","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T00:45:32","slug":"singing-the-national-anthem-in-tamil-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/06\/singing-the-national-anthem-in-tamil-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IN TAMIL Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Rev 7.3.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Sri Lanka,\nthen Ceylon was getting ready for independence, it had to find a national\nanthem, since all modern states were expected to have one. National anthems\nrose to prominence in Europe during the 19th century. D.B.S. Jeyaraj says that\nwhen the national anthem was discussed in the late 1940s, D.S Senanayake had\nproposed that a suitable Tamil translation also be formally adopted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A committee headed by E.A.P Wijeratne had\naccepted in principle that there be a Tamil version of the national\nanthem.  Pundit M. Nallathamby had\nprovided a \u2018neat transliteration\u2019, said Jeyaraj. Prof\nK. Sivathamby had   confirmed that\nNallathamby had prepared a Tamil version. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeyaraj\nsays when a record was made of the national anthem, a disc was also cut for the\nTamil version of the National Anthem.  The\nmelody and music was the same as that of the Sinhala version. The Nallathamby\nversion was sung by two women singers, Sangari and Meena.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oliver\nGoonetilleke, then Minister in-charge of Home Affairs   had submitted a cabinet memorandum dated 22.11.1951  on the National anthem,  where he said that\u2018Namo namo matha\u2019 had been sung in Sinhala and Tamil at the independence\ncelebrations of 1948. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A printed\nprogramme for the 1949 independence celebrations, which Haris de Silva   had seen, \nhad said that at the inauguration at Torrington Square, the National\nSong would be sung in Tamil at 4 p.m on the arrival of the Prime Minister, and\nin Sinhala at 5 p.m. immediately after the Drill Display. At the evening event\nat the Havelock Race Course, celebrations commenced with the singing of the\nNational Anthem in Tamil, and concluded with the anthem sung in Sinhala, said\nHaris de Silva. \nLankadipa reporting on 5th<\/sup> February 1949 said that when the\nanthem was sung in Tamil, some stood but others remained seated. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nTamil version that was used at Independence was the translation by K. Kanagaratnam, Parliamentary Secretary to the\nMinister of Education. In 1952, Cabinet\nwanted a \u2018competent authority\u2019 to revise the Tamil translation. This, we are told, was also done by K. Kanagaratnam. Cabinet had wanted\nSir Oliver to consult G.G. Ponnambalam, who had nothing to say on the matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCabinet gave its approval to the anthem on 11th March 1952.  A Press\nCommunique was issued on 12th March 1952, saying that the Cabinet had approved\nthe song ‘Namo Namo Matha’ as the National Anthem, with copies of the approved\nSinhala version, and its Tamil and English translations, together with the\nmusical scores. The Tamil translation was the one by Kanagaratnam, said Haris\nde Silva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 D.B.S\nJeyaraj says on March 12, 1952, the Government published huge advertisements in\nthe Sinhala, Tamil, and English newspapers announcing that Namo Namo Matha\u201d\nwas the National Anthem. While words in Sinhala and Tamil were published in the\nSinhala and Tamil newspapers respectively, the English newspapers had Sinhala\nwords written in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satyajit Andradi has examined the\nSinhala and Tamil versions. The lyrics of the national anthem of Sri Lanka are\ncomposed in highly Sanskritised Sinhala, he said. In that sense, it closely\nresembles the Indian national anthem, which is written in highly Sanskritised Bengali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Namo namo matha has numerous words\ntaken from Sanskrit. Most of these loan words are used in their original Sanskrit\nform, whilst a few are adopted with minor modifications. The former category\nincludes words such as Shri (prosperity), Matha (mother), Namo (salutation),\nSundara (beauty ) Ati (beyond), Dhanya (grain ), Dhanaya (wealth), Jaya\n(victory), Ramya (beauty) Bhakti (devotion), Puja (worship ), Vidya (knowledge,\nscience), Sathya (truth), Shakti (strength), Aloke (light), Anuprana (breath,\nafter breath), Jeevana (life), Mukthi (salvation, release, freedom ), Nava\n(new), Jnana (wisdom), Virya (diligence, energy), Bhumi (land), Prema\n(affection), and Bheda (division, disputes), whilst the latter includes\nSobamana (beauteous) and Siribarini (sustenance of prosperity). Interestingly,\nmost of these Sanskrit loan words are also found in the Tamil language and are quite\nfamiliar to Tamil native speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe Tamil version, the lyrics, apart from the first stanza, have undergone a\nthorough translation, so much so that the numerous Sanskrit loan words found in\nthe Sinhala original, which are also in the Tamil lexicon, are nowhere to be\nfound in the Tamil version. The lines of the Tamil version are through and\nthrough Tamil, except in the few instances where a couple of new Sanskrit loan\nwords such as \u2018Siromani\u2019 (crest jewel) are introduced. However, what is\nwonderful about the Tamil translation is its preservation of the spirit of the\nSinhala original, said Satyajit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto D.B.S. Jeyaraj, the Tamil version Namo Namo Thaaye\u201d was   sung in 1952 at Independence Day functions\nat Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Batticaloa kachcheries. I\nremember, as a grade four student in a leading school in Colombo, I was witness\nto the National Anthem in the Tamil language sung at the school commemoration\nof Independence, way back in 1952,\u201d recalled an anonymous writer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil version was also sung when Sir John\nKotelawela visited Jaffna in 1954. The\nTamil version was first broadcast officially on Radio Ceylon\u201d on February 4,\n1955.  The Tamil version came into use\nthereafter and was extensively used in official functions in the predominantly\nTamil speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces,  \nsaid Jeyaraj <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a sharp difference of opinion\nregarding singing the national anthem in Tamil. Sinhala hardliners do not want\nthe National Anthem to be sung in Tamil while Tamil hardliners do not want\nTamils to sing the National Anthem in Sinhala, observed D.B.S. Jeyaraj. Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had\nwalked out of a function in the north where the national anthem was played in\nTamil.  The date is not given. This would\nhave been either in 1960-65 or 1970-77, her two terms of office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Sinhala version was sung in most\nofficial functions in Colombo and Sinhala majority provinces, the Tamil version\nwas sung in Tamil majority areas and Tamil medium schools, said Jeyaraj. Ananda\nWanasinghe says, A close friend\nof mine from Nelliyadi Central College tells me that they sang the anthem in\nTamil at the beginning of assembly and at all other school functions. He adds\nthat it was sung with emotion and honor.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National anthem was not included in the\nConstitution of 1972. But it was included in  \nthe Constitution of 1978. Article 7 of  1978 Constitution  states: “The National Anthem of the\nRepublic of Sri Lanka shall be “Sri Lanka Matha,”, the words and\nmusic of which are set out in the Third Schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text of the 1978 Constitution was issued\nin Sinhala, English and Tamil. The Sinhala version had Namo, namo in\nSinhala.  The English\u201d version was\na    repeat of the Sinhala one,   written in Roman script,  a transliteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil translation was a\ntranslation of the Sinhala words into Tamil. it was not a transliteration.  <\/strong> The Tamil version was included, said one\nsource, following an appeal by K.W.Devanayagam. Devanayagam\nhad pointed out that Muslims and Tamils living in the north and east who spoke\nmostly Tamil wanted that version for use in schools and occasions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil version had been played\nat functions attended by Tamils in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, and\nBatticaloa. The Sinhala version was played at functions attended by the Sinhala\ncommunity, However when both parties attended, they avoided the national anthem\nand only played the tune. (Sunday Times 19.12.2010 p 10.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national anthem was sung in Sinhala and Tamil at the 50th anniversary\nindependence celebrations in Trincomalee in 1998. Is this legal asked critics.\n(Daily News 10.2.1998 p 5) On Sinhala New Year day 1999 at a\nceremony in Kantalai they had sung it simultaneously in Sinhala and Tamil. This\nwas scoffed at. Where in the world do we hear national anthems being sung in\ndifferent languages asked one reader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2010 the Cabinet decided that Sri\nLanka’s national anthem would only be in Sinhala. President Rajapaksa said\nthere could not be two national anthems in a country. He said, “We must\nthink of Sri Lanka as one country.” The Tamil version would no longer be\nplayed at any official or state functions. A directive to use only the Sinhala\nversion was to be sent out by the Ministry of Public Administration. All\ngovernment establishments including district secretariats were to adhere to\nthis decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Jeyaraj,\nthis ban on singing the national anthem in Tamil was thereafter shelved\u201d. There was no official\ndecree. But there was officially sanctioned unofficial instructions.\u201d\nOrders went out quietly to government. \nOfficials and officers of the armed forces  were told that the national anthem should not\nbe sung in Tamil. This resulted in the\nsilencing the Tamil National Anthem, said Jeyaraj. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This unofficial diktat was strictly enforced.\nSchools and government institutions were discouraged\u201d from singing the\nnational anthem in Tamil. The armed forces in the North and East were tasked\nwith the duty of preventing the National Anthem being sung in Tamil. The Tamil\npeople soon got the message and gave up attempts to sing the National Anthem in\nTamil. School children were compelled to sing the Sinhala words, scripted in\nTamil, said Jeyaraj <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At three different functions at\nKilinochchi, in 2010 army had stopped the singing of Tamil version. They\nordered that the recorded Sinhala version be played and it was. They had also\ndistributed the Sinhala version of the national anthem to schools and told them\nthat in future they should play the Sinhala version, reported the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  Yahapalana government of 2015 changed this.\nPresident Sirisena withdrew the prohibition on singing the national anthem\nin Tamil.   In March 2015 President\nSirisena      announced that there would\nbe no bar to singing the national anthem in Tamil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Soon after, on March 23.  2015  at  a\nfunction  in Valalai in the Jaffna peninsula\nto return land taken over by the Sri Lankan armed forces for a high security\nzone, the national anthem was first sung in Tamil and then in Sinhala.\nThe music was played on tape while a choir from the staff of the Jaffna\nDistrict Secretariat sang in both languages. This was in the presence of\nPresident Maitripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,\nand former President Chandrika  Kumaratunga, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nthe first time, since 1949, the national anthem was sung in Tamil at the\nIndependence Day proceedings in Colombo in 2016. This was repeated in 2017,\n2018 and 2019. But  it was sung at the\nend of the proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsinging of the national anthem in Tamil at the Independence celebration of 2016\nsurprised many people . In Hambantota they did not like it. Some did not even\nknow that Tamil was a national language. It came as a shock them, reported\nJehan Perera.  Critics said now Sri Lanka\nhas joined South Africa, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand and Fiji as a country\nhaving two national anthems.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil Separatists were not\nthrilled either. \u2018If Tamils thought that they had gained a\nstatus on par with the majority race they are wrong. Their relegation to second\nclass was shown by the fact that the Tamil anthem was sung later at the\nceremony, said one analyst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But others were pleased. After 67 years, the\nNational Anthem was sung in Tamil in 2016, said Mano Ganesan.   It was a very significant act of the government to make\nthe Tamils feel equal, said the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can still\nremember that the faces of the bevy of young girls who sang the Tamil version\nof the National Anthem on Independence Day 2016. That day  they were glowed with pride and self-respect.\nIn addition to these young girls, most of the Tamil people would have felt some\nsort of complacency and self-respect at the feeling that they had been treated\nequally said one commentator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students\nwhose mother tongue is Tamil enjoyed participating in the singing at the\nofficial commemoration of our independence, and was well received by the masses\nwhose mother tongue is Tamil, said another commentator. Each year, a new set of\nstudents participated in the singing and I am certain that the younger ones\nwere eagerly awaiting with much expectation, when their turn would come for\nthem to participate in the singing, at the big event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The singing of the national anthem In Tamil\nwas challenged in Supreme Court as a violation of the constitution. A fundament\nrights petition challenging the government decision to sing the national anthem\nin Tamil was filed in 2016. It should be sung only in Sinhala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court  dismissed\nthe petition. They accepted the reply given by the  government. \nGovernment  pointed out that Tamil\nis also a national and official language . The words and music of the National\nAnthem in the Tamil language is constitutionally recognized by Article 7 read\nwith the Third Schedule of the Tamil version of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.\nThe National Anthem that was sung in the Tamil language at the Independence Day\ncelebrations on February 4, 2016 contained the same words and melody as\nentrenched in the constitution in terms of Article 7 read with the Third\nSchedule of the Tamil version of the constitution of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal profession did not agree. Permitting\nthe national anthem to be sung in Sinhala and Tamil, as President Sirisena had\ndone may be a violation of the constitution, said Ladduwahetty. According\nto Article 7 of the 1978 Constitution the national anthem cannot deviate from\nthe words and music given in the schedule, and the words are the Sinhala words. The\nnational anthem must be sung in Sinhala at state and\nnational functions. Article 7 is a fundamental article which cannot be amended,\nrepealed or tampered with, said Vernon Botejue. Also,\nit could be added ,there is the rule that where the  texts differ, the Sinhala version shall\nprevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka got a new President in 2019. The new\nadministration  said that according to\nthe Constitution, the national anthem is to be sung  in SInhala. Therefore the national anthem\nwould not be sung in Tamil at the Independence celebration of 2020.A spate of\ncomments arose. Friday Forum\nurged the government to ensure that the national anthem is sung in both Sinhala\nand Tamil at the forthcoming Independence celebrations and on similar future\noccasions. The\nNational Peace Council  urged the\ngovernment not to stop the Yahapalana practice of singing the national anthem\nin Tamil at the Feb 04 Independence Day celebrations.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the administration stood firm. On Feb 4\n,2020, at the Independence celebrations in Colombo,  the national anthem was sung in Sinhala\nonly.  But it was sung in both Sinhala\nand Tamil at a parallel   function held\nat Jaffna District Secretariat. ( Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Rev 7.3.20 When Sri Lanka, then Ceylon was getting ready for independence, it had to find a national anthem, since all modern states were expected to have one. National anthems rose to prominence in Europe during the 19th century. D.B.S. Jeyaraj says that when the national anthem was discussed in the late 1940s, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98760","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=98760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}