Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Muthuvel Karunanidhi strongly condemned the Sri Lankan government’s decision to do away with the Tamil version of the National Anthem, today.

If the reports in this regard are true, it is strongly condemnable. This will further dishearten Tamils (in Sri Lanka), who are already suffering. I condemn it, he stated in a statement made to the Indian Media.

TNA Media Spokesman MP Suresh Premachandran said that the government is attempting to kill the Tamil culture within the country while adding that Tamil areas that were liberated during the war are being exposed to a cultural invasion.

He claimed that Temples were also being erected in purely Tamil areas as a part of the government’s plan to divide the people again.

In reply to Minister Wimal Weerawansa who called the singing of the National Anthem in Tamil a ‘joke’, Mr. Premachandran said that the Minister’s comments only proved his ignorance on the matter. He claimed that the Indian Anthem was written by a person of low caste in his own language which was later translated to Hindi while in countries like Switzerland, Canada and South Africa the National Anthems are sung in multiple languages.

Meanwhile, The Patriotic National Movement (PNM) expressed its strong support of the government’s decision stating that the Tamil version of the National Anthem was brought in by a group of LTTE supporters in hope of a divided country.

President of the PNM, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera in a Media released greatly praised President Mahinda Rajapakse for his courage in taking such a decision.