The President erred in his Thai Pongal message

(January, 16, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The President took the pain and trouble to deliver his Pongal message for the troubled Tamil community, but remain accused of incorrectly calling the Tamil celebration a Hindu Pongal festival. Thai Pogal day is January 1st as per Tamil almanac which took place according to English calendar on January 15th. This is harvest festival for the Tamils.

The President in his message stated: ‘I wish the Hindus of Sri Lanka a Happy Thai Pongal and join them in their hopes for peace, prosperity and greater trust and understanding in the coming year’.

The leader of the nation, have erred in his message and called the Tamils as Hindu’s. Thai Pongal is celebrated by the Tamils all over the world and even by the thousands of Tamils migrated to other countries from Sri Lanka due to the war.

Sivabalan in Edmonton commenting on this said: ‘The President is very insensitive and appears to hate the use of word ‘Tamil’ and he asked ‘whether the President will apologise for this mistake and publicly explain why he branded it a Hindu event’.

President in his message did not tell the Tamils in Sri Lanka, as the Commander in Chief of the Security Forces, he will ensure their safety when he starts his official war against the Tamil Tigers. Instead, he made a general statement with selective words and there was no substance in his wishes which could make the Tamils happy.