Sri Lanka: government denies Tamil’s right to sing the national anthem in their language
Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Sri Lankan government has decided that the national anthem should be sung only in Sinhala, in all official ceremonies. Although the Constitution states that the country's Tamil and Sinhalese are both official languages. The move was revealed last week, according reports the government directive will also be applied in the main Tamil areas in the country, where often people do not know the Sinhalese language.
Minister Wimal Weerawansa, supporting the decision claimed that in no other country is a national anthem sung in several languages, even in those where there is widespread multilingualism. He pointed to the example of India where the anthem is sung in Hindi despite the hundreds of languages spoken in the state.
Fr. Terence Fernando, chaplain for Human Rights of the Archdiocese of Colombo, reads the government's decision as "a very clear sign that the Sinhala regime is not willing to concede the just rights of minorities, and to treat them as equal citizens of this country. As we know the Tamil version of the national anthem is the correct translation of the Sinhala version, since independence. Why this sudden rush and desire to abolish the one in Tamil? The example of India given by Minister Weerawansa demonstrates his ignorance: in fact, the Indian national anthem is not sung in Hindi but in Bengali, it was composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, a native of Bengal. "
The lawyer and human rights activist Nimalka Fernando said she was not surprised at this decision: "The politicians of this country do not recognize the rights of minorities, and the need to identify their most urgent needs. Besides, the fact that Sri Lanka supported the Chinese government, boycotting the ceremony of the Nobel Prize, says a lot about how human rights will be discussed here in the short term. China has not only repressed minorities, but has become an imperialist power in Asia by investing money everywhere, and spreading its tentacles across the continent. Instead Sri Lanka has to stand to against China, as we did in the past against U.S. imperialism. " She added: "There can be no integration without creating a social environment where national identities and languages are respected."
A former provincial of the Jesuits in Sri Lanka, Tamil Fr S. Maria Anthony, said: "The proposal to have the national anthem only in Sinhalese can not be accepted. The message that is given is that the Tamils must accept the decision without being able to oppose it, but this does not help to pave a road to reconciliation and peace that is based on justice. "
The social activist Buddhist Weligama Dhammissara Thero, believes the issue is very simple: "In the main Tamil areas in the country, the population must be able to sing the national anthem in their own language. There is no first class ad second class anthem, only a national anthem in both languages. Tamils do not understand Sinhalese, and it is their right not only to sing, but also work in a language they can understand. I do not see anything bad or wrong in this. "
Jehan Perera, director of the National Peace Council, said: "We note that language can be a potent instrument of unity or disunity within a country. When Sri Lanka was deciding on the replacement of English as the official language in the mid 1950s, Dr Colvin R de Silva said that it was a choice of two languages and one nation or one language and two nations. The language issue made the Sinhalese-Tamil cleavage the most divisive one in Sri Lankan society and the forerunner to the thirty year war. We need to learn from the past. A threat to language or its demotion can become seen as a threat or demotion of the community itself. Especially in the aftermath of the war, the government needs to consider the issue of co-existence between its ethnic majority and minority communities and to ensure that all feel equal as citizens".
.png)
24/01/2007
