Sri Lanka: How to Sing National Anthem?

Sri Lankans wave their national flag in a cricket world cup match Pic Courtesy: RadioAustralia

 

It is a nation which is already complicated. The government of the island nation wants to show it is back to normalcy. But it is difficult for the nation to prove. The reality is the present government of Sri Lanka is trying its level best to have a Sri lanka united. But the attempt is difficult to fetch best results in a highly polarized country like Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was a model colony under British rule, but it did not translate to be a model country since its independence.

Though, the recent issue of ‘how to sing national Anthem of motherland?’ – seems to be more emotional than practical – The nation is more emotional than practical in a lot of cases. The minorities were sidelined with no hesitation for long time.

Sri Lankan national anthem is officially in Sinhala, the official language of the country. But since the day of inception – the song is sung in Tamil in Tamil dominant area of the island. Tamil is one of the national languages while Sinhala is the official language. Uno Lingua Franca cannot exist across the island due to its cultural differences.

The Previous government tried to mute the Tamil version of the national anthem. Lot referenced India over the debate. Few Sinhalese called national anthem of India is one and in Hindi, the national language of the nation. They did not understand the fact, Indian Anthem is in Bangla and it is not the national language of the country.

Muting Tamil Version of the anthem seems to be emotional politics. Chandrika Kumarathunga and Ranil Wikramasinghe, an ex President and present prime minister try to get the national anthem settled amicably.

It is better to take advantage of the present passive Tamil society and allow them to sing the anthem in their mother tongue. They are not singing the anthem of Eelam.

Making the dream of Eelam to become reality is not only in the hands of rebels of the past but also in the rulers of the present. At the moment, there are not much rebels – government may not try to sow seeds for creating rebels.

Tamils are passive now but can be aggressive which the past taught to the island.

Namo Namo Sri Lanka Matha! Namo Namo Sri Lanka Thaaye! ( Hail Mother Sri Lanka in both the national languages).