Author: Yeshi Seli
Sri Lanka is celebrating its 77th Independence Day on February 4th at Independence Square in Colombo. This year the national anthem will be sung in both Sinhala and Tamil.
This move has been appreciated by Sri Lankan Tamils who are 12 per cent of the total population of 22 million.
In 2020, the then Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had done away with Sri Lankan national anthem in Tamil.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was in Tamil dominated Jaffna today and reassured Tamils that their lands held by the military would be returned back to them soon.
Meanwhile, President Dissanayake had earlier said that he wanted the Independence Day celebrations to be muted with fewer men taking part and lesser military equipment on display.
Meanwhile, this year aircraft in the celebrations has been reduced to 3 against 19 last year. There will be no air/naval display. The parade will consist of 1,511 men, which is lower than 1,873 last year.
While the march will consist solely of foot soldiers, with no armoured vehicles. A Sri Lanka Navy ship will perform the traditional 25-gun salute.
Monetary allocations have been made only for essential events around the Independence Day celebrations factoring in the country’s weak economic situation.
However, citizens have been asked to witness this event in large numbers.