Reconciliation In Practice At Independence Day Parade
Perhaps the most poignant moment of Independence Day parades for a long time was at the tail end of the 68th Independence Day Parade when a bevy of beautiful girls clad in white saree sang serenely in Tamil, the National Anthem as the country’s leaders – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims – stood still. It was a moving moment not only to hear the National Anthem sung in a national language, Tamil, a language which had been conveniently ignored for long years although the country’s leaders at times did mouth a few words about national unity on the occasion.
TV cameras that panned the audience showed such contrasting personalities like Opposition Leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the rest standing to rapt attention as the girls sang.
It was as melodious as the national anthem sung in Sinhala at the start of the ceremony. President Maithripala Sirisena spoke eloquently on the need to reconcile the two estranged communities and said that had grievances of the Tamil people not been ignored, the barbaric conflict that went on for 26 long years could have been avoided. He stressed on the need for reconciliation of the two communities. The National Anthem in Tamil at the end of the ceremony demonstrated his genuine desire for Sinhala-Tamil unity.
There was much debate before and even after the ceremony whether the country’s anthem should be sung in Tamil. It should be sung in Sinhala only, they said splitting hairs over constitutional provisions.
These present day intrepid Sinhala Only warriors, probably hoping for immortality among the Sinhalese, should hark back to the dark days of 1958 when warriors of their ilk armed with tar, brushes and carrying ladders tarred every Tamil letter on public boards in Colombo. Who are they and where are they now? Does anyone recall them after 56 years – even the warriors of their ilk today? Do poets and present day writers sing praises of them? Perhaps they may appear as footnotes in history as those who set the country aflame and took the once prosperous Pearl of the East to the Stone Age.
The modern day Veerayas are trying to do just that not so much for the betterment of the Sri Lankan nation or the Sinhala language but to mislead the people and topple this government projecting the government’s attempts to forge national unity as a betrayal of the Sinhala race.
The ultimate objective is to resurrect a twice defeated former government leader in order that unrestrained bumming will result in being granted high government office if a miracle takes place.
These great lovers of the Sinhala race object to the Tamil rendition of the National Anthem. Perhaps they are ignorant of the fact that the last King of Sri Lanka was a Tamil from South India and the Lion flag, which they now flaunt as the national flag, was that of Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe.
These warriors of pure Sinhala heritage who claim to be steeped in Sinhala history and culture should be well aware that most of the Kandyan Chiefs who signed the Kandyan Convention did so in Tamil letters. There may have been many reasons, one being that Tamil was the language of the royal court.
Under the Yahapalanaya government, writing, speaking or even singing in Tamil is bad for these purists. But the leader, whom they are trying to resurrect from the political grave, when he went to Jaffna tried to utter a few words in Tamil in an attempt to convince Tamils that he was conversant in their language.
Tamils, even the hired supporters, roared in laughter. Those who are known to be debasing Buddhist temples by using them for political purposes should at least know the language in which the sacred texts are written or at least the usual Gathas are recited. Pan Sil (Five Precepts) Ata Sil (Eight Precepts) are all recited in Pali – an Indian language, the language of the Buddha.
Pali is an Indian language just as much Tamil and Sinhala are.
Where does all this leave our stout defenders of the Sinhala language?
Some in the Hela Urumaya and their fellow thinkers sincerely believe that Sinhalas as Helas – the Greeks and Sinhala mean Sew (four) Hela the Four Helas! All this would mean double Dutch to the ordinary Sinhalese.
Let not the cockeyed pundits in a hurry to get to the top, attempt to mislead the people and prevent reconciliation of the Sinhala and Tamil people.
