GOING BEYOND ELECTION PROMISES TO STRENGTHEN NATIONAL RECONCILIATION
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The government is being criticized for its slow pace in implementing the 100 day plan of the president’s election manifesto. However, the government is also going beyond the promises of its election manifesto to strengthen the confidence of the Tamil people in its good faith. President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to permit the national anthem to be sung in the Tamil language taken at a meeting of the National Executive Council, which is composed of political party heads in the government coalition, is a courageous action. The National Peace Council commends the President for his statesmanlike decision. We see it as yet another reconciliatory action of the government that will make the Tamil-speaking people feel a greater sense of belonging to the Sri Lankan polity when they sing the national anthem in a language they understand.
Since 1951 the national anthem was sung in the Tamil language translation of the original Sinhala language version and to the same music. However, in 2010 after the war victory, when the previous government was consolidating the forces of Sinhalese nationalism, they decided to withdraw state sanction to the singing of the Tamil version and insisted that the national anthem should be sung only in the Sinhala language even in the Tamil speaking parts of the country. Former government leaders made, and continue to make, absurd and untrue statements that no national anthem anywhere else in the world is sung in more than one language, and that this will divide the country. Such unenlightened statements when raised to the level of government policy made the Tamil people more alienated from the mainstream of the national polity.
Several countries, including South Africa, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand sing their national anthems in more than one language. Singapore which is mourning the demise of their first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew sings the national anthem in the language of a minority community, which is Malay, and not the Mandarin or English languages which are spoken by the majority community. The same is true of India, which sings their national anthem in Bengali. It is wise policies that keep the people of a country together regardless of their ethnic, racial or religious identities.
The new government’s decision with regard to the singing of the national anthem in both languages is in accordance with the recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the former president but which was not implemented by him. The National Peace Council notes that the government is steadily implementing the recommendations of the LLRC that are relevant to national reconciliation. This includes the return of land to the people, the appointment of civilian governors to the Northern and Eastern provinces and reduction of the visible military presence in those two provinces. Such actions gives reason to believe that the government is on the right path to national reconciliation though much more remains to be done.
Governing Council
The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.
24 March 2015
The government is being criticized for its slow pace in implementing the 100 day plan of the president’s election manifesto. However, the government is also going beyond the promises of its election manifesto to strengthen the confidence of the Tamil people in its good faith. President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to permit the national anthem to be sung in the Tamil language taken at a meeting of the National Executive Council, which is composed of political party heads in the government coalition, is a courageous action. The National Peace Council commends the President for his statesmanlike decision. We see it as yet another reconciliatory action of the government that will make the Tamil-speaking people feel a greater sense of belonging to the Sri Lankan polity when they sing the national anthem in a language they understand.Since 1951 the national anthem was sung in the Tamil language translation of the original Sinhala language version and to the same music. However, in 2010 after the war victory, when the previous government was consolidating the forces of Sinhalese nationalism, they decided to withdraw state sanction to the singing of the Tamil version and insisted that the national anthem should be sung only in the Sinhala language even in the Tamil speaking parts of the country. Former government leaders made, and continue to make, absurd and untrue statements that no national anthem anywhere else in the world is sung in more than one language, and that this will divide the country. Such unenlightened statements when raised to the level of government policy made the Tamil people more alienated from the mainstream of the national polity.
Several countries, including South Africa, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand sing their national anthems in more than one language. Singapore which is mourning the demise of their first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew sings the national anthem in the language of a minority community, which is Malay, and not the Mandarin or English languages which are spoken by the majority community. The same is true of India, which sings their national anthem in Bengali. It is wise policies that keep the people of a country together regardless of their ethnic, racial or religious identities.
The new government’s decision with regard to the singing of the national anthem in both languages is in accordance with the recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the former president but which was not implemented by him. The National Peace Council notes that the government is steadily implementing the recommendations of the LLRC that are relevant to national reconciliation. This includes the return of land to the people, the appointment of civilian governors to the Northern and Eastern provinces and reduction of the visible military presence in those two provinces. Such actions gives reason to believe that the government is on the right path to national reconciliation though much more remains to be done.
Governing Council
The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.
