(Courtesy of The Island)

by Rear Admiral (Dr.) Sarath Weerasekera, VSV RWP USP

Independence Day is the day a country gained freedom from a foreign rule. In any country, the citizens, irrespective of their religion and race, recites the national Anthem ( NA) and celebrate the Independence day with immense pride.

We, too, got our independence on 4th Feb 1948. For the first time on that day, we celebrated the Independence Day with much respect and honour, hoisting our national flag and singing the NA. From 1948 onwards ever since, the NA which is written in Sinhala has been sung, but this year, according to the Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and the Cabinet have unanimously decided to sing it in the Tamil language also.

A country should have only one NA. It per se ensures the national unity, too. It brings all the communities together. In addition to that fact, the objections to the NA being sung in Tamil is not because of any disrespect towards Tamils but because it also very clearly violates the provisions of the Constitution of our country.

In the Sinhala original and the English translation of the Constitution, the NA appears as ” Sri Lanka matha..” whilst in the Tamil translation of the constitution, the wordings of the NA were also translated into Tamil and appear as “Sri lankathaye …” ( NA is the identity of the country. In fact, an identity cannot be translated, just like the name of a person, which is his identity, should pronounce the same way when written in any language) In this state of affairs, when the NA is sung in Tamil the Sinhala Constitution will be violated and when it is sung in Sinhala the Tamil version is violated. In a situation like that the article 23 of the Constitution applies; it says that “in the event of any inconsistency between such texts, the text in which such written laws were enacted/adopted shall prevail.” The language used at the stage of enactment was Sinhala and hence the Sinhala text should prevail over the Tamil version. That is the reason why the constitution is being violated whenever the NA is sung in Tamil.

As the matters are such can the Cabinet of ministers violate the fundamentals of the Constitution of the country on their own? Have they presumed that when the NA is sung in Tamil at the next Independence Day, the Tamil separatists will give up their Eelam/federal dream and the next day the so called Sanhindiyawa (reconciliation) will be there hey presto? No! This is not granting of a request made by the ordinary Tamil people, but giving in to a demand made by the Tamil diaspora/separatists. The government which came to power with the direct support of the Tamil diaspora/Eelamists and the western nations has succumbed to the pressure of the Tamil diaspora for its survival.

India is our neighbour. There are more than 70 million Tamils in Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In addition, there are other communities, who speak different languages, such as Muslim, Hindu, Marati, Gujarati ,Bengaletc etc. But the NA of India is the one and only ” Janaganamanaabinayakajayahebharathabhagyavidhatha,”written by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali language. I have seen the tears in the eyes of even the Maratis when they sing the NA in Indian National Day Parade. It is the symbol of genuine national unity. Citizens of all communities honour and respect the NA whether written in their own language or not, because it depicts the honor and dignity of the nation. Hence it is the bounden duty of all the patriotic citizens of the country to recite our NA in unison.

Will Vaiko or Jayalalitha request the government of India, permission to recite the Indian NA in Tamil also at the forthcoming Indian national day, for the sake of 70 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu? What would be the response of Modi and the Indian Cabinet of ministers for such a request? No separatist in India would dare to make such a demand because he or she knows very well that the Indian cabinet, though it consists of different ethnic identities, will always act in unison and in a patriotic/intelligent manner as regards the country’s sovereignty. In our country, the Sinhala/Tamil separatists make this type of requests, presuming that the leaders will do anything to remain in power.

The Prime Minister’s contention that the recitation of NA in Tamil was constitutional is fundamentally wrong has been proved . If the NA is sung in both Sinhala and Tamil will the Sinhalese and Tamils embrace each other in joy and live happily ever after? This will not bring communities together. When the Sinhalese object to this the Tamils may perceive it as an expression against their community.

The 1983 black July occurred under a UNP government. Another UNP government (2001-2004) enabled the LTTE to consolidate its power through a bogus peace process which was implemented without Parliament being informed. Defeating terrorism became an uphill task and so many members of the armed forces, the Police and the Civil Defence Force perished owing to the ill-conceived ceasefire which allowed the LTTE to regroup, retrain, rearm, infiltrate most parts of the country and prepare for war. That government also tried to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the advent of the Portuguese!

It is quite certain, the intelligent Tamil people, too, realise that singing the NA in Tamil is not aimed at bringing about reconciliation. It is another cowardly political act of capitulation to separatists.

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