National Anthem should be sung in Tamil in North and East

9 December 2011 01:48 pm

The National Anthem is continually sung in Sinhala in the north and the east, and it should be allowed to be sung in Tamil in those areas, TNA MP for the Batticaloa District S. Selvarajah said today.

He said that though the Minister of National Languages, Vasudeva Nanayakkara assured that the National Anthem could be sung in both the languages, it was not in practice in the north and the east.

Public Administration Minister John Seneviratne said that there is no barrier in singing the National Anthem either in Tamil or Sinhala.

“May be, it is sung in Sinhala on certain occasions by choice. However, there is no restriction for it be sung in Tamil,” he told Mr. Selvarajah. (Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera)