Ministry to summon Umara over National Song gaffe

Popular Singer Umara Sinhawansa who had allegedly sung the national anthem distortedly at the inauguration of the Lanka Premier League tournament on Sunday will be summoned to the Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry to record a statement from her, a Ministry official said.

Accordingly, the singer will be summoned to the Ministry today or tomorrow to record a statement from her. He said that a Ministry team investigating into this incident yesterday

visited the Sri Lanka Cricket and inquired about the incident from a SLC manager and one of the organizers of the LPL tournament.

He added that they are investigating to ascertain as to whether such incident had taken place during the inauguration of the previous LPL tournaments.

The official added that the SLC had entrusted the responsibility of organizing the inauguration ceremony to a Public Relations company.“The SLC had informed the investigators that a Education Ministry Director usually checks whether the national anthem is recited on par with the accepted standards before such event,” the official said.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardene in his capacity as the Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister had ordered Ministry Secretary Rajith Ashoka to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations leveled against singer Umara Sinhawansa.

The Ministry investigating team comprises an Additional Secretary and an Assistant Secretary of the Education Ministry.