The singing of Sri Lanka’s national anthem in Tamil confirms the hierarchical relationship of Sinhala Buddhists and other communities on the island said the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) spokesperson.
Guruparan Kumaravadivel questioned whether the singing of Sri Lanka’s national anthem in Tamil could be marked as progress in comments given to Ceylonews.
Speaking to the news outlet, the spokesperson said,
“Being allowed to sing the national anthem is an example of what is known as permissive tolerance- the Sinhala Buddhist establishment is exhibiting ‘tolerance’ by permitting us to sing an anthem in praise of a Sinhala Buddhist state. By allowing us to sing the anthem in Tamil they are confirming the hierarchy of the relationship between the Sinhala Buddhists and the ‘others’ in Sri Lanka. This hierarchical tolerance, particularly in light of no real change in issues such as accountability and political solution exposes lack of depth in our political discourse.”
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