President to allow singing of Lankan national anthem in Tamil

In a major reconciliatory move, Sri Lankan President Mathripala Sirisena will be sending a circular to all institutions saying that there is no bar on singing the Lankan national anthem in Tamil, the New Indian Express reported quoting leader of the Democratic Peoples’ Front (DPF), Mano Ganeshan. Schools and other institutions, which were using the Tamil version of the anthem  since 1951, stopped doing so. Sirisena announced his decision to lift the language bar when the leader of the Democratic Peoples’ Front (DPF), Mano Ganeshan, raised the issue at the National Executive Council (NEC)  on Tuesday. “The President said that he would send a circular saying that there is no ban on singing the national anthem in Tamil. He also said that he would have the matter cleared by the National Security Council,” Ganeshan toldExpress. The then newly independent Lanka adopted Ananda Samarakoon’s  Sinhalese-language song  “Sri Lanka Matha,  Apa Sri Lanka” as the national anthem. Simultaneously,  a Tamil version, “Sri Lanka Thaaye Nam Sri Lanka”, composed by the Lankan Tamil poet, M.Nallathambi, was also adopted. For decades, both versions were sung, although only the Sinhalese version had constitutional sanction.