Sri Lanka's Supreme Court today rejected a petition challenging the singing of the country's national anthem in Tamil which was allowed by the Sirisena government earlier this year in an effort to achieve reconciliation with the ethnic minority community.
Three people had filed a petition in the apex court, saying that singing the national anthem in Tamil was a gross violation of Article 7 of the Constitution and it was arbitrary and crass violation of the principle of equality and of the rights of all citizens.
The Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Priyasath Dep, K T Chitrasiri and Prasanna S Jayawardene refused to grant leave to proceed with the petition.
For the first time since the 1970s, the Tamil national anthem was sung at the Independence Day celebrations in February this year.
Tamil political leaders had welcomed the move while the Sinhala majority nationalists had opposed it.
The move, despite opposition from some quarters, was seen as an effort by the government to reach out to the Tamil minority after the nearly 26-year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009.
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