Sri Lanka independence party omits Tamil-language anthem

IN an interesting development, a Tamil-language version of Sri Lanka's national anthem was dropped from independence day celebrations on February 4.

The South Indian language version of the anthem was included in 2016 as part of a push to heal the wounds of a 37-year war between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese-majority.

The war claimed more than 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.

Tamil is the language of the largest minority in Sri Lanka. They account for just over 15 per cent of the country's 21 million people.

At the Independence day celebrations, marking the 72nd anniversary of independence from Britain, the anthem was sung only in Sinhala.

However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's 20-minute speech in Sinhala was translated into Tamil.

Opposition legislator Mano Ganesan said dropping the anthem in Tamil was disappointing.

"By rejecting the anthem in Tamil... in front of local and the international community, the government has justified discrimination, and has disappointed patriots," said Ganesan.

Rajapaksa won a landslide in November 2019 elections with the backing of the majority Sinhalese.

He was a key figure in the crushing of the Tamil Tiger separatists that ended Sri Lanka's conflict in May 2009.

Sri Lankan Navy personnel fire a 21-gun salute to mark the island nation's 72nd Independence Day