“Sixes hit (by Sri Lankans) shatter the roof of the English palace and things in it tumble.”
- verse from Sri Lanka’s official song for the cricket World Cup.
Well after the start of the cricket World Cup, President Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday ordered his country’s official song to be taken off air.
Rajapaksa told reporters he was displeased with its contents because it insults foreign teams.
See Canadian Press’s report here and AFP's here.
Apart from the verse about England above, the song warns that Australians will end up as bird food while New Zealanders, still reeling from the Christchurch quake, could have their jaws broken.
Lahiru Perera, the singer, is surprised. As he points out,
"This is the official cheer song and it got the approval from everybody including the cricket board. I am at a loss to understand how this was approved first and is being taken off air now."
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