AUDIO: Anthem had no place at the National Safety Day- Anandasangaree

The National Anthem should have never been sung at the National Safety Day event in Jaffna yesterday as it was a funeral house and not a celebration, Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) V. Anandasangaree told Ada Derana.

Responding to media reports alleging that the government along with the Army had forcibly made the Hindu Ladies choir sing the National Anthem in Sinhala at the event, Mr. Anandasangaree said that the people of Jaffna should have been allowed to mourn the loved ones they had lost to the war and the tsunami as many of the problems regarding these tragedies had not been resolved.

“This is an occasion for us to mourn not to rejoice. The government can’t force the people to rejoice. We’ll rejoice with the government when all these matters are over,” he said.

Mr. Anandasangaree stated that those who want to celebrate this occasion can do so but not in Jaffna or in the Eastern Provinces where people are still mourning the deaths of their family and friends.

“What does it matter if you sing it in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Bengali? As far as I’m concerned this is funeral house where the National Anthem has no place,” he added.