දිනපතා සත්ය කරුණු දැන ගැනීමට අපගේ WhatsApp චැනලයටමෙතනින් එකතුවන්න.
Various ideologies have continued since ancient times regarding the singing of the national athenm in Tamil. Various misguided social media posts on this topic which come to the fore again and again in conjunction with the Independence Day on February 4th are widely spread. This is an investigation of the facts we did on this regard.
Social Media Posts
Several posts were circulated on social media stating that the National Anthem was sung only in Tamil and for the first time during the 77th National Independence Day celebration
Another social media post stated that though the population of TamilNadu in India is 72 million, the National Anthem is not sung in Tamil.
So, we decided to do a fact check regarding that.
Fact Check :
The 77th National Indpendence Day celebration was held on February 4th at the Independence square.
After hoisting thr national flag marking the beginning of the independence day, the national anthem was sung in Sinhala. Fourty Four students representing the Defence Services College, Colombo 2, Nalanda College Colombo 10, Muslim Ladies College Colombo 4, Royal College Colombo 7, Ramanathan Hindu College Colombo 4, Sahira College Colombo 10, All Saints’ College, Susamayawardana College Borella, Hindu College Colombo sang the national anthem.
Also, marking the end of the National Independence Day, the National Anthem was sung in Tamil.
Is this the first time that the National Anthem was sung in Tamil?
Here you can view how the National Anthem was sung in Tamil in the 76th National Independence Day celebration. Also, it was sung at the 75th National Independence Day celebration held in 2023.
However, before that, in the 72nd, 73rd, and the 74th Independence Day Celebrations held during 2020 – 2022, the National Anthem was sung only in Sinhala.
Also, the National Anthem was sung in both Sinhala and Tamil at every Independence Day celebration from 2015 to 2019 (71st, 70th, 69th, 68th, 67th).
Also, in December 2010, Mr. John Seneviratne, the Minister of Justice and Judicial Reforms, had submitted a cabinet memorandum stating that the National Anthem cannot be sung in Tamil.
Although the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not give an official response, there was an opinion that the government did not want to sing the national anthem in Tamil. Mr. Vasudewa Nanayakkara, the former Minister of National Languages and Social Integration of Mahinda Rajapakshe’s cabinet, had stated that the National Anthem should be allowed to sing in Tamil as well. Here is an article which was published regarding that.
Accordingly, during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa, 2010 – 2014, the National Anthem was not sung in Tamil during the Independence Day celebration, and it was sung in Tamil during the presidency of Maithreepaala Sirisena, which is 2015 – 2019. During the three years of presidency of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (2019 – 2022), the National Anthem was not sung in Tamil. Again it was sung in Tamil during the presidency of Ranil Wickremesinghe and in the Independence Day celebration under the current president Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
After the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President in 2019, there was a discussion about singing the National Anthem in Tamil although it was stated that no such decision was taken by the government at that time. In fact, during his presidency, the Independence Day celebration did not feature the Tamil National Anthem.
A government policy to sing the National Anthem in Tamil at the Independence Day celebration until the 100th Independence Day.
In a media conference held regarding the Independence Day celebration in 2023, the government parties said that arrangements have been made to implement an unchanged government policy for the next 25 years, until the 100th Independence Day in 2048.
There it was stated that as it is necessary to gather all the people no matter the race and the religion, for the advancement and development of this country, they have decided to sing the National Anthem in sinhala at the beginning of the Independence Day celebration ceremony and in Tamil at the end of the ceremony. It was further stated that they hope to organize these activities under a targeted program for the next 25 years.
Is it against the Consitution to sing the Sri Lankan National Anthem in Tamil?
Article 7 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka mentions the following about the National Anthem.
“The National Anthem of the Republic of Sri Lanka shall be “Sri Lanka Matha”, the words and music which are set out in the Third Scedule.
Here is the Third Scedule.
Due to this, national organizations had stated that singing the National Anthem in Tamil is unconstitutional. Here and here you can view press conferences and media reports.
Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara said that a country can have only one National Anthem and further pointed out that although India is a country with a large population, India has different religions and different races but they sing the national anthem in one language.
He says in the constitution, the National Anthem is written as “Sri Lanka Matha” in English too, and when it is translated in to Tamil, it is sung as “Sri Lanka Thaye” and thus there has been a violation of the constitution.
Even when singing in Tamil, it should be corrected as “Sri Lanka Matha”. This was then interpreted as inciting racism by misleading Tamil people by the Tamil political parties.
Mr. V. Ananda Sangari, the leader of Tamil United Liberation Front had mentioned that the Tamil people should have the opportunity to sing the National Anthem in the language they know.
They pointed out that the Tamil people should be given an opportunity to sing the National Anthem in their familiar Tamil language and that the opportunity should be given to sing the National Anthem in both languages to show the unity of the country during the national festivals of the country.
The Tamil people had been given the right to sing the National Anthem in their own language by the Constitution as well as by the State Commission. It was states that if this is stopped in the middle, unnecessary problems would be created and that it is not appropriate. Due to this, a request was made to Mr. Gotabhaya Rakapaksa, who was the President at the time, to give the non Sinhala spealing Tamil people to sing the National Anthem in a language that they know.
In 2016, the three judge Supreme Court bench of Priyasad Dep, K.T. Kithsiri and Prasanna Jayawardene had rejected the fundamental rights petition files against the singing of the national anthem in Tamil during the National Independence Day.
The petitioners have stated that according to the Constitution, the National Anthem can only be sung in Sinhala. The Deputy Solicitor General, who represented the Attorney General, pointed out that according to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, both Sinhala and Tamil have been recognized as official languages. He states that according to the Sinhala version of the Constitution, the National Anthem is in Sinhala Language and in the Tamil version it is in Tamil language.
Accordingly, as there is no legal objection to singing the National Anthem in Tamil, the Supreme Court has considered the facts and rejected the petition without hearing it. Here and here you can view the mainstream media reports regarding that.
Singing the National Anthem, by translating into Tamil
It is said that Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake said that the National Anthem “Namo Namo Matha” should be translated into Tamil and officially accepted. It is said that it was translated into Tamil by Pandit M. Nallathambi, a teacher at Zahira Vidyalaya, Colombo. Accordingly, the National Anthem “Namo Namo Thaye” started to be sung in Tamil in the Northern and Eastern provinces where the majority of Tamil live.
The Tamil translation of the National Anthem is a translation of the lyrics of the Sinhala National Anthem and not a Tamil version of the National Anthem. Another idea is that the Tamil language translation of the National Anthem is done by K. Kanagaratnam, who was the Deputy Minster of Education at that time. However, after his death in 1951, the National Anthem was included in his collection of poetry, which makes it clear that he did the translation.
In 1949, as well as in 1950, the National Anthem was sung in Tamil in the Independence Day celebration.
It is reported that the National Anthem was also sung in Tamil during Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake’s visit to Jaffna in 1950. The reports published in this regard are here.
Even so, the song was changed and was started singing due to the objections of Astrologists and some musicians. A report published in this regard is here.
History of the National Anthem
As there was a public opinion against the composition of the National Anthem by Ilangasinghe and Edirisinghe, two members of the Lanka Gandharva Sabha, which organized the National Anthem competition, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers wanted to provide another song.
Accordingly, on February 4th, 1949, a group of singers from the Musaeus College Colombo sang Ananda Samarakoon’s “Namo Namo Matha”, which was popular at that time, as the National Anthem. It has been trained by Fr. Marcelline Jayakody and Financed by J.R. Jayawardena.
In 1950, Finance Minister J.R. Jayawardene submitted a cabinet paper asking for the official recognition of the “Namo Namo Matha” as the National Anthem. Prime Minsiter D.S. Senanayke appointed a committee headed by E.A.P. Wijerathne who was the Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Developmet to take a decision on the National Anthem.
The committee decided that “Namo Namo Mata” should be the National Anthem. It also recieved the unanimous approval of the Cabinet. From March 12, 1952, the song “Namo Namo Matha” was officially announced as the National Anthem of Sri Lanka. Reports with more information on this are here, here, here and here.
National Anthem of India
The Indian National Anthem “Jana-Gana-Mana”, originally composed in Bengali Sanskrit by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted as the National Anthem of India in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950.
Our Indian team also confirmed that this national song has Bengali and Hindi lyrics. In this regard, the website of the Government of India states as follows. Information about orders related to Indian National Anthem here.
Countries that sing National Anthems in multiple languages.
Canada : English and French
Switzerland : French, German, Italian, and Romansh
South Africa: The South African national anthem was created combining five of the country’s eleven official languages and the national anthem begins with lines in Xhosa and Zulu, followed by Sesotho, Afrikaans, and ends in English.
Belguim : Dutch, French and German
Czechoslovakia: Czech and Slovak
Ireland : Irish and English
Newzealand : English and Maori Language
Fiji : English and Fiji
Finland : Finnish and Swedish
Bolivia : Spanish and Native languages
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Title:Is it not possible to sing the national anthem in Tamil?
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Misleading
