By

Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

TamilLanguage Rights

in Sri Lanka

2

Edited By : Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

ISBN : 978-955-1655-86-0

Published : April 2012

Printers : Globe Printing Works Tel: 011-2689259

Address : 24/2 28th Lane, off Flower Road, Colombo 7Telephone : +94 (11) 2565304/5/6Fax : +94 (11) 4714460Web : www.cpalanka.orgEmail : info@cpalanka.org

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is an independent,non-partisan organization that focuses primarily on issuesof governance and conflict resolution. Formed in 1996 in thefirm belief that the vital contribution of civil society to thepublic policy debate is in need of strengthening, CPA iscommitted to programmes of research and advocacy throughwhich public policy is critiqued, alternatives identified anddisseminated.

Tamil Language Rightsin Sri Lanka

3

CONTENTS

FOREWORD --------------------------------------------------------------- 5

INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------------- 9

CHAPTER I ---------------------------------------------------------------- 12

CHAPTER II

RECOMMENDATIONS ------------------------------------------- 27

LONG TERM MEASURES ---------------------------------------- 36

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING -------------------- 44

CHAPTER III -------------------------------------------------------------- 47

LANGUAGE POLICY ---------------------------------------------- 48

EDUCATION ------------------------------------------------------- 52

PEACE EDUCATION --------------------------------------------- 55

COMMENTS RELATING TO THE ABOVE EXTRACTS

FROM THE LLRC REPORT-------------------------------------- 56

CHAPTER IV

THE LANGUAGES OF SRI LANKA:

A CONSTITUTION FOR NATIONAL UNITY ----------------- 63

4

.

5

FOREWORDAfter my schooling in Jaffna and Colomboand my under graduate studies in Colombo,I was recruited to the Ceylon Civil Servicein April 1959, not long after Sinhala wasmade the only Official Language. I retiredin April 1995, a few years after the passageof the 13th and 16th Ammendments to theConstitution, which introduced Tamil alsoas an Official Language. In the intervening36 years, I served a total of 11 years inBadulla, Mannar, Batticaloa and Jaff naDistricts. Badulla was bilingual but theother three Districts were predominentlyTamil Speaking.

In the course my work I became very muchaware and sensitive to the language problemsof the people. This little monograph is theoutcome of the awareness I gained in thecourse of my duties and subsequent research.

I have often travelled in the hill countryand past Haputale Church with a lovelyview, sometimes stretching out south tothe Indian Ocean. That Churchyardcontains the ashes of W.S. Senior whosehaunting verses titled The Call of Lanka areincluded in this monograph.

I wish to greatfully acknowledge the helpgiven in different ways by Lionel Guruge,

6

Asoka Herath, Kamaladevi Sasichandran &Lanka Nesiah to bring out this monograph.My special thanks are due to the Editor ofThe Island who published a series of fourarticles by me on this subject in the courseof March 2012. This monograph is basedon those articles.

Devanesan Nesiah April 2012

THE CALL OF LANKA - W.S. SENIOR,former Vice Principal, Trinity College

I climbed o’er the crags of LankaAnd gazed on her golden sea,And out from her ancient placesher soul came forth to me.“Give me a Bard,” said Lanka,“My Bard of the things to-be”

“My cities are laid in ruins,“Their courts through the jungle spread,“My sceptre is long departed“And the stranger lord instead.“Yet give me a Bard” said Lanka,“I am living, I am not dead.”

“ For high in my highland valleys,“And low in my lowland plains“The pride of the past is pulsing“Hot, in a people’s veins.“Give me a Bard,” said Lanka,“A Bard for my joys and pains.”

7

I offer a voice, O Lanka,I, child of an alien isle,For my heart has heard thee, and kindled,Mine eyes have seen thee, and smile;Take, Foster-Mother, and use it;Tis but for a little while.

For surely of thine own children,Born of thy womb, shall riseThe Bard of the Moonlit jungle,The Bard of the tropic skies,Warm from his Mother’s bosom,Bright from his Mother’s eyes.

He shall hymn thee of hoar Sripada,The peak that is lone and tall;He shall hymn with her crags Dunhinda,The smoking waterfall.Whatsoever is fair in LankaHe shall know it and love it all.

He shall sing thee of sheer Sigiriya,Of Minneryiya’s wandering kine;He shall sing of the lake and the lotus,He shall sing of the rock - hewn shrine;whatsoever is old in LankaShall live in his lordly line.

But most shall he sing of LankaIn the brave new days that come,When the races all have blendedAnd the voice of strife is dumb;When we leap to a single bugle,March to a single drum.

8

March to a mighty purpose,One man from shore to shore,The stranger become a brother,The task of the tutor o’er;When the ruined city rises,And the Palace gleams once more.

Hark ! Bard of the fateful Future,Hark ! Bard of the bright To-BeA Voice on the verdant mountains,A Voice on the golden sea;Rise, Child of Lanka, and answer !Thy Mother hath called to Thee.

Concluded

9

INTRODUCTION“Tamil Language Rights in Sri Lanka”, iswritten by a distinguished former civilservant and a valued colleague at CPA.DrDevanesanNesiah also headed the teamappointed in 1998 by the Official LanguageCommission of Sri Lanka to conduct anAudit on the Use of Tamil as an OfficialLanguage in the provinces outside of theNorthEast. Consequently, thismonographis enriched with both experience andexpertise on a subject that was at theheart of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lankaand one that continues to be integral tothe challenge of our transition from a post-war society to a post-conflict one.

Language rights are integral to peace,reconciliation and unity in a pluralistsociety such as Sri Lanka. Our inabilityand/or unwillingness to incorporate thelanguage rights of all the peoples of thecountry in its laws, administrative rules,regulations and practices came tosymbolize discrimination andinstitutionalize alienation which eventuallyfound expression in armed revolt againstthe state. Demands for federalism andautonomy were obscured by the moreextreme one of secession, the pain andsuffering of an ethnic war, with itsattendant atrocities of terrorism and mostrecently allegations of war crimes.

10

Three years after the end of the war in2009, the government has declared apolicy goal of trilingualism throughout thecountry. The recommendations of both theLanguage Audit of 1998 and the LessonsLearned and Reconciliation Commission(LLRC) reproduced in this monograph, willhopefully be heeded and the goal pursuedin earnest. Progress in this respect willalso, no doubt, help allay internationalconcerns following the resolution in theUN Human Rights Council on theimplementation of the LLRCrecommendations.

Language is integral to identity andaccordingly, in a social context, to a senseof belonging, equal citizenship and mostimportantly to basic human rights anddignity. Language rights are enshrined in anumber of international instruments onhuman rights and governance, reinforcingthe contention that the respect for andfulfillment of language rights in Sri Lankaare also part of our internationalobligations as responsible members of theinternational community. The pursuit ofeconomic development too, will be greatlyfacilitated and enjoy greater legitimacyamongst the people it directly impacts on, ifit were underpinned by language rights.Development is first and foremost aninvestment in the welfare and wellbeing ofpeople; it is to be measured mostfundamentally by their belief in it as

11

stakeholders, equal citizens and activeparticipants.

Since the establishment of the OfficialLanguage Commission some two decadesago, rhetorical commitment to upholdingTamil language rights notwithstanding,practical implementation has beenwoefully lacking. The recommendations ofthe Audit in 1998 and the LLRC over adecade later, chart the lack of progress inthis regard and the persistence ofchallenges of mind set, politicalcommitment and resources.

Upholding Tamil language rights in SriLanka will not be sufficient for ensuringpeace, reconciliation and unity. However, itincontestably constitutes part of a packageof reforms that are necessary for peace,reconciliation and unity. At the heart ofthe challenge is not the availability ofresources; it is political commitment andmind –set as it is for the other issues thatare in need of resolution for Sri Lanka tobecome the truly, sustainable post-conflictsociety with democratic governancedesired by all of its peoples.

Dr.Paikiasothy SaravanamuttuExecutive Director

12

Tamil Language Rightsin Sri Lanka

CHAPTER ISinhala Language rights have beenlargely secured since the OfficialLanguage Act of 1956. I will thereforefocus mainly on Tamil Language rightsand, to a less extent, on EnglishLanguage rights. It would be useful tobegin with a brief historical outline.

English was the Official Languagethrough the British period and into thefirst decade after independence. Theagitation for the use of NationalLanguages in the administration andEducation was led by the Jaffna YouthCongress (JYC), prominent amongwhose leadership was the late HandyPerinbanayagam. The Gandhi-inspired JYC, comprising almostentirely of young school teachers andsenior students, established cordialrelationship with all the politicalleaders outside Jaffna (Kandyan and

JaffnaYouthCongress(JYC)

13

Low Country Sinhalese, Moor andMalay, Hill Country, Vanni and EasternTamil) as well as with major Indianleaders including Gandhi, Nehru andRajagopalachari. The JYC peaked in the1920s and early 30s, but graduallyfaded thereafter.

In keeping with JYC policy, leadingschools in Jaffna taught Sinhala, Tamiland English as compulsory languages.They wanted independenceimmediately and, for this reason,opposed the Donoughmore reformsas too little too late and boycotted the1931 State Council elections under theDonoughmore reforms. In 1931, theboycott was a 100% success in theJaffna Peninsula and even the Tamilnationalists who did not approve ofthe boycott contested outside thePeninsula (eg, G G Ponnanbalam whocontested and lost in Mannar). Theboycott obviously could not besustained and there was no boycottwhen the 1936 State Council electioncame around. Unfortunately, theboycott call by the JYC in 1931

The boycottin Jaffna of

the 1931State

Councilelections

14

backfired in that the young anti-imperialist intellectuals of the JYC weredismissed as romantic idealists. Thisgave the Tamil Congress a head startover the Youth Congress and G.G.Ponnambalam maintained hisdominance so gained over Tamilpolitics for two decades since 1936.Over this period the interethnicgoodwill built up by the JYC graduallyeroded.

In the mean time J. R. Jayawardenemoved a resolution in the State Councilin 1944 to make Sinhala the onlyOfficial Language and the medium ofinstruction in schools. Before it wasput to the vote an amendment wasmoved by V. Nalliah to substituteSinhala and Tamil for Sinhala only. Theamendment was accepted andadopted. But some communal ill willand a feeling of insecurity amongTamils and Muslims had been created.The Tamil Congress won nearly all theseats in the Northern electorates in the1947 election to the new House ofRepresentatives. The UNP co-opted

The declineof the JaffnaYouthCongressand the riseof the TamilCongress

Theexclusion ofthe HillCountryTamils fromcitizenshipand votingrights

15

the Tamil Congress into supportinglegislation excluding the Hill CountryTamils from citizenship and votingrights. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam quit theTamil Congress and formed theFederal Party (ITAK) on this issue butthe Federal Party was overshadowedby the Tamil Congress in Jaffna in the1952 Parliamentary elections. From1956 onwards in the wake of Sinhalaonly. Tamil leadership was taken overby the Federal Party led by S.J.VChelvanayakam and sustained forover two decades till he passed awayin the late 70s. The Federal Partycampaigned vigorously andsuccessfully against secession at everyelection till 1977. During this time theFederal Party enjoyed the support ofthe Muslims of the North and East.Muslim representatives of the regionvoted against Sinhala Only whereas theMuslim leaders based outside theNorth and East voted for Sinhala Onlywith the sole exception of SenatorA.M.A. Azeez (originally from Jaffna)who quit the UNP on this issue andvoted against the Sinhala Only Bill.

The rise ofthe Federal

Party

North EastMuslim

Parliamen-tarians vote

againstSinhala only

16

The 1956 elections in which the twomajor Sinhalese led parties, viz. theSLFP (part of a coalition termed MEP)and the UNP campaigned for Sinhalaas the only Official Language widenedthe ethnic divide. The Marxist LSSP andCP campaigned for Sinhala and Tamilas official languages and, having earliersigned a no-contest pact with the SLFP,secured a significant number of seatsoutside the North and East, but madelittle impact in the North or East. TheCP won one seat in the North and,countrywide, the LSSP ended up as thesecond largest party in Parliament.Neither they nor the Tamil partiessought to forge an effective politicalalliance. Such an alliance, alsoincorporating the parties representingthe Hill Country Tamils and the non-Left liberal Sinhalese, may well havebeen able to form a government after the1947 elections and changed the courseof our history, avoiding the loss ofcitizenship and voting rights of HillCountry Tamils, the exclusion of Tamilas an official language, and thesuccession of riots, pogroms and thecivil war that followed. In the event the

A missedopportunity

Sinhala asthe onlyOfficialLanguageand thedeepeningof the ethnicdivide

17

communal rift widened over the years.The Federal Party swept the 1956 pollsin the North and East and the MEP inthe rest of the country. The ethnicpolarization that began even beforeindependence hardened, thawed fromtime to time, but is now firmly set andagain hardening.

A consequence of the Muslim MPsrepresenting electorates outside theNorth and East voting for Sinhala Onlyin line with the dictates of theirpolitical parties (UNP and SLFP) wasthe emergence of the Sri Lanka MuslimCongress under the leadership of M.H.M. Ashraff to safeguard the interestsof the Muslims of the North and East.This party has since secured someelectorates outside the North and Eastand emerged as the leading party of theMuslims of Sri Lanka. Till hisuntimely death in a tragic accidentAshraff’s relationship with the FederalParty remained good.

The 1981 census (the last published allisland census) indicated that the Tamilspeaking communities (Sri Lankan

The rise ofthe SriLanka

MuslimCongress

Ashraff andSLMC

expand theirinfluence

island widebut Ashraffmeets with

untimelydeath

18

Tamils, Muslims/Moors andUpcountry Tamils), then constituted30% of the population, the Sinhalese(Kandyan and Low Country) 69% andthe others less than one percent. Since1981 the ethnic proportions havechanged significantly on account ofemigration (disproportionately highamong Tamils). In terms of languageuse, a small section of Tamil speakers,especially Muslims, have gainedSinhala literacy. However, Sri Lankansremain predominantly monolingual.The manner in which Sinhala wasmade the Official Language and theaccompanying and consequentviolence has impeded the spread ofSinhala literacy among Tamils. SriLanka’s education system also has notbeen conducive to the spread ofbilingualism and trilingualism. This isin sharp contrast to the situation inIndia where, despite much lowerliteracy levels, the education system isgeared to promoting multilingualism,which has been a major factor inbuilding national unity in that country.

The fall outfromSinhalaOnly

IndianFederalism

19

Another significant feature in India isthat it is federal with many LinguisticStates, each governed predominantlyin the Indian National Language of thatState with provision for numericallysignificant linguistic minorities withineach State to use their languages. Forexample, Tamil is the Official Languageof the State of Tamilnadu but there isprovision for pockets of those speakingMalayalam, Kannada and Teluguwithin the boundaries of Tamilnadu touse their respective languages. In turn,significant pockets of Tamil speakerswithin the borders of Kerala, Karnatakaand Andhra are able to use Tamil ineducation and in dealing with the State.All these contribute to nation building.In contrast Sri Lankans remainpredominantly monolingual and theadministration does not cateradequately to the national minorities(mostly Tamil speakers) or to theregional minorities (whether Sinhalaor Tamil speakers). In consequencethe Sri Lankan Nation is now ethnicallymore fractured than ever before.

The

upholding of

Monolingualism

in Sri Lanka

and

Multilingualism

in India

Marginalizationof linguistic

minorities in SriLanka

20

It is likely that the proportion ofSinhala speakers now is over 75% andthat of Tamil speakers less than 25%.On the other hand the laws in respectof language use have changed. Sinhalawas made the only Official Languagein 1956 and this was embedded in tothe 1972 and 1978 Constitutions. TheThirteenth Amendment of 1987, insome convoluted text introducedTamil also as an Official Language(without undermining the historicalstatus of Sinhala as the OfficialLanguage) and English as the LinkLanguage. The relevant article 18 of theConstitution now reads as follows:

18 (1) The official language of SriLanka shall be Sinhala.

(2) Tamil shall also be an officiallanguage.

(3) English shall be the link language.

(4) Parliament shall by law provide forthe implementation of the provisionsof this Chapter.By virtue of the 16th Amendment of1988 Tamil was affirmed as a language

Theintroductionof Tamil asan OfficialLanguageand Englishas a LinkLanguagethrough the13thAmendment

The CurrentConstitutionalStatus ofSinhala, Tamiland English inAdministration

21

of administration throughout SriLanka, and its new status spelt out ingreater detail, though again inconvoluted text. Tamil too is now anOfficial, Administrative and CourtLanguage and English is the LinkLanguage, but also used inadministration to a less extent. Therevised articles 22 (1), (2) and (3) ofthe Constitution now read as follows:

“Language of Administration

22(1) Sinhala and Tamil shall be thelanguages of administration throughout Sri Lanka and Sinhala shall be thelanguage of administration and beused for the maintenance of publicrecords and the transaction of allbusiness by public institutions of allthe provinces of Sri Lanka other thanthe Northern and Eastern provinceswhere Tamil shall be so used:

Provided that the President may,having regard to the proportion whichthe Sinhala or Tamil linguistic minoritypopulation in any unit comprising adivision of an Assistant Government

Extendingthe

LegislativePositions of

Tamil andEnglish

through the16th

Amendment

LanguageProvisions

under the 16thAmendment

22

Agent, bears to the total of populationof that area, direct that both Sinhalaand Tamil or a language other than thelanguage used as the language ofadministration in the province inwhich such area may be situate, beused as the language of administrationfor such area,

(2) In any area where Sinhala is usedas the language of administration aperson other than an official acting inhis official capacity, shall be entitled-

(a) To receive communications fromand to communicate and transactbusiness with, any official in his officialcapacity, in either Tamil or English;

(b) If the law recognizes his right toinspect or to obtain copies of orextracts from any official register,record, publication or other document,to obtain a copy of, or an extract fromsuch register, record, publication orother document, or a translationthereof, as the case may be, in eitherTamil or English;

Languages ofOfficalCommunicationandDocumentation

23

(c) Where a document is executed byany official for the purpose of beingissued to him, to obtain such documentor a translation thereof, in either Tamilor English.(3) In any area where Tamil is used asthe language of administration, aperson other than an official acting inhis official capacity shall be entitled toexercise the rights and obtain theservices referred to in sub–paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) ofparagraph (2) of this Article, in Sinhalaor English.

The revised Article 24 (1) now readsas follows:

Article 24 “(1) Sinhala and Tamil shallbe the languages of the courtsthroughout Sri Lanka and Sinhala shallbe used as the language of the courtssituated in all areas of Sri Lanka exceptthose in any area where Tamil is thelanguage of administration. The recordand proceedings shall be in thelanguage of the court. In the event ofan appeal from any court, records shall

TheLanguages of

the Courts

24

also be prepared in the language of thecourt hearing the appeal, if thelanguage of such court is other than thelanguage used by the court from whichthe appeal is referred:

Provided that the Minister in charge ofthe subject of Justice may, with theconcurrence of the Cabinet ofMinisters direct that the record of anycourt shall also be maintained and theproceedings conducted in a languageother than the language of the court”

Despite these and other improvementsin the Constitution and otherregulations to provide for greater useof Tamil in administration, there isvery little benefit to Tamil speakers onthe ground. The Language Audit of 30December 1998 submitted (by a teamled by myself) to the Official LanguagesCommission pointed out (p6) that:

a) There have been chronicshortages of Tamil speakingcadres and no serious attemptappears to have been made tocorrect this deficiency in any ofthe offices visited, although they allserved large numbers of Tamil

Gapbetweende jure andde factoLanguageRights

25

speaking people. In consequence,Tamil speaking persons are oftencompelled to transact theirbusiness in Sinhala (sometimesthrough interpreters whom theybring along) or, in a few cases, inEnglish.

b) Even officers who had passedTamil proficiency examinationsand drawn incentive allowancesappeared to be mostly unable towork in Tamil, particularly inrelation to correspondence.

c) Basic equipment such astypewriters was not available orwas in short supply in manyoffices. In some offices there wereone or two Tamil typewriters butno Tamil typists.

d) Even simple and low costmeasures such as having all nameand direction boards and noticesin Sinhala and Tamil had not beentaken in most offices.

e) None of the offices had a completeset of the legal documents andcirculars issued by the Ministry of

Some of theproblems

faced byTamil

Speakers

ChronicShortages

of TamilSpeaking

cadres

26

Public Administration and theOfficial Languages Commission.

The basic problem was identified as thecrippling shortage of Tamil speakingofficers despite the fact that elevenyears had passed since Tamil was alsomade an official language. No noticeappeared to have been taken of theethnic composition of the variousdistricts when recruitments andpostings were done.

The TamilLanguageAudit of1998

27

Tamil Language Rightsin Sri Lanka

CHAPTER IIThis part consists of Recommendationsmade over 13 years ago to the OfficialLanguage Commission (OLC) by ateam headed by the writer andappointed by the OLC to conduct anAudit on the Use of Tamil as an OfficialLanguage in provinces outside theNorth East. Although the Audit didnot research the North or East, theRecommendations relate to the wholeIsland and cover the use of Sinhala inthe North and East. Therecommendations dated 30 December1998 include far reaching changes,most of which remain valid butunimplemented. For this reason theyare reproduced unchanged:

RECOMMENDATIONS

If the administration is to meet theneeds of the Tamil speaking people,

Failure toimplement

TamilLanguage

Regulations

28

there should be a sufficient number ofTamil proficient officials in stateinstitutions and corporations. Theofficials needed will be translators,clerks, typists and others as well asdepartmental grades, such as policepersonnel at all levels. Recruitment ofadequate numbers of Tamil speakingstaff is essential. But this cannot be doneovernight. The team realises thatimmediate, short term and long termmeasures are needed.

The first urgent need is a consensusbetween the Ministry of PublicAdministration, Ministry of Finance &Planning, Salaries and CadreCommittee and the Official LanguagesCommission on the immediate, shortterm and long term measures neededto implement Tamil as an OfficialLanguage. Based on our LanguageAudit, we have formulated followingproposals for consideration.Recommendations

for immediateimplementation

29

Immediate Measures (to be takenwithin the next few weeks)

(a) Identify constraints like lack ofequipment, documents etc, and takeimmediate measures to purchase theequipment needed, print thedocuments, etc, using available fundsor savings under other items in thebudget.

(b) Convert all monolingual andbilingual name and direction boardsinto trilingual name and directionboards. The cost of doing this will beminimal and it is unlikely that anyadditional resources will need to beallocated for this exercise.

(c) Withdraw all forms in theDepartment that are not trilingual,destroy them and have the formsprinted by the Government Printer inall three languages on the same paper.The Government Printer should beasked to give top priority to this work.

(d) Instruct all public servants to complywith Government policy in regard tothe use of the national languages,particularly reminding them of

Measuresrecommended

to be takenimmediately

PublicServants to

be givenclear

directionsregarding

theLanguage

Rights ofthe Public

30

widespread failure to implementTamil as an official language.

(e) A circular setting out the languagepolicy of the government in relationto the use of Tamil may be jointlydrafted by the Ministry of PublicAdministration and the OfficialLanguages Commission, andcirculated to all offices and sub-offices.The Circular should detail theobligations of the public servants inrelation to dealings with Tamilspeaking persons.

Short Term Measures (to be takenduring the course of the year 1999)

(a) Identify the Departments and theService Grades that need freshrecruitment of Tamil speakingofficers to enable full implementationof the Language Policy of theGovernment. This Identification maybe done by the Ministry of PublicAdministration in consultation withthe Official Languages Commissionwithin a three or four month’s timeframe.

MeasuresRecommendedto be takenin thecourse of1999

31

(b) The Official Languages Commissioncould seek government approval forthe special recruitment of therequired numbers of Tamil speakingcadres. The new appointment may beset off against existing vacancies and,if there are not enough vacanciesadditional posts could be created onthe understanding that otherrecruitment would be suspended tillthe excess disappears through naturalwastage.

(c) Thereafter the Secretary, Ministry ofPublic Administration could call forapplications from suitable candidates,specifying the special TamilLanguages provisions required inrespect of oral, reading and writingskills at the point of recruitment. Inthis recruitment, preference should begiven to those with skills in a secondor third language.

(d) The Ministry of Public Administrationshould post the officers according tothe needs of each Department. TheOfficial Languages Commissionshould, before postings are made, be

SpecialRecruitment

of TamilSpeaking

Cadres

RecruitmentCriteria inrespect ofLanguage

Competency

32

consulted in working out the rulesgoverning language competency in therespective offices. It should bepossible to complete this process andmake necessary appointments within1999.

(e) Training programmes in Sinhala,Tamil and English should be initiatedisland to enable all categories ofofficers to gain proficiency in at leasttwo and, if possible, all threelanguages.

(f) All induction and selected trainingcourses should incorporate modulesrelating to the language policy of thestate and awareness of relevantprovisions of the Constitution.

(g) Public awareness should be built upof the right of every person totransact business with anygovernment office in any part of theIsland in Sinhala, Tamil or English, andof the obligation cast on the officesand officers concerned to provide suchservices including replying letters inthe language used by the writer andissuing any extract or translation of

AcceleratedLanguageTrainningProgrammes

33

any record, registration, publicationor other document in the languagechosen by the applicant.

(h) In order to motivate officers togain proficiency in all threelanguages, a new incentivescheme should he introducedconsisting of fixed sums onpassing the relevantexaminations and a monthlyallowance for using the additionallanguage in day to day work. Theincentive allowance must be paidonly to those officers who work,in addition to their normal duties,in a language other than their firstlanguage. There should be a strictcheck on this payment andappropriate norms should beestablished. Those who draw themonthly allowance should beavailable for posting outstation asrequired.

(i) After providing the staff, thereshould be periodic monitoring.Due consideration should be

Incentivesfor secondand thirdlanguage

competency

34

given to public complaints. TheOfficial Languages Commissionshould bring to the notice of thePresident any shortcomings orany lethargic attitude in anyMinistry/Dept. for action that thePresident may deem fit.

(j) Presidential directions may bemade as appropriate underSection 22 (1) of the Constitution,introduced through the SixteenthAmendment, which reads asfollows:

“Sinhala and Tamil shall be languagesof administration throughout SriLanka and Sinhala shall be thelanguage of administration and beused for maintenance of publicrecords and the transaction of allbusiness by public institutions of theprovinces of Sri Lanka other thanNorthern and Eastern Provinceswhere Tamil shall be used”.

“Provided that the President may,having regard to the proportion whichthe Sinhala or Tamil linguistic minority

BothSinhala andTamil arenowLanguagesofAdministrationthroughoutSri Lanka

35

population in any unit comprising aDivision of an Assistant GovernmentAgent bears to the total of populationof that area, direct that both Sinhalaand Tamil or a language other than thelanguage used as the language ofadministration in the province inwhich such area may be situated bethe Languages of Administration forsuch area”.

It is noted that both Sinhala and Tamilare Languages of Administrationthroughout Sri Lanka but only onelanguage or the other may be thelanguage of public record in aparticular province unless there is aPresidential declaration to thecontrary. It is suggested that earlyaction should be taken under theabove paragraph to proclaim theappropriate areas in which a secondor third language should also be usedas languages of public record so thateffective strategies for implementationof the Official Language Policy of theGovernment can be worked out. It issuggested that in any province in

Proclamationof Areas in

which a 2nd or3rd Language

should also beused as

Languages ofPublic Record

36

which the language of administrationand public record is Sinhala, Tamil isdeclared as an additional language ofadministration and public record inthose A.G.A.Divisions of the provincein which the proportion of Tamilspeaking persons is not less than 121/2 percent and, likewise, in anyprovince in which the language ofadministration and public record isTamil, Sinhala is declared as anadditional language of administrationand public record in those A.G.A.Divisions of the province in which theproportion of Sinhalese is not less than12 ½ percent.

LONG TERM MEASURES

The team has not visited any offices inthe North East or in the Central, NorthCentral or Southern Provinces, and isnot in a position to report in respectof these regions. Our survey hascovered many offices in the Western,North Western, Uva andSabaragamuwa provinces. Aconsistent pattern has emerged of aglaring lack of Tamil language

Long TermMeasures

37

proficiency in virtually every officeaudited at all levels, although many ofthose offices serve populations ofwhich very substantial proportionsare Tamil speaking.

The highest priority should be given tocorrecting oral, reading and writinglanguage deficiencies. Unless this isdone, the legal requirements in respectof using the Tamil language inadministration cannot be met. It isessential that the specific languagecapacity of each unit of the publicservices must be such as to meet theneeds of the population in the languagemedium they are most comfortablewith.

While all citizens have the same rightsin all parts of the Island, it may not bepragmatic to seek to ensure thatevery office in every A.G.A. Divisionhas the same level of competency inall three languages. Most offices mayhave Sinhala or Tamil as the languageof official record; many may haveboth; a few may have English too. Butall offices need to have minimum

Categories ofA.G.A.

Divisions onthe basis ofpopulation,

and providingfor languagecompetencyaccordingly

38

competency to transact office businessin all three languages. We thereforemake certain proposals below toensure that these requirements couldbe met.

It is suggested that the various A.G.A.Divisions may be categorized in termsof the language composition of thepopulation as follows:

(i) Not less than 87 ½ % Sinhalaspeaking

(ii) Not less than 87 ½ % Tamilspeaking

(iii) Not less than 50 % Sinhalaspeaking and not less than 12 ½% Tamil speaking

(iv) Not less than 50 % Tamil speakingand not less than 12 ½ % Sinhalaspeaking

Norms may be prescribed in respectof each A.G.A. Division above todetermine the minimum requirementof cadres classified in terms oflanguage proficiency as follows:

Classificationof officers interms ofLanguageCompetency

39

(1) Officers fully proficient and whocan correspond in Sinhala (thiswill comprise mostly but notexclusively those whose mothertongue is Sinhala; a special highlevel proficiency examinationcould be prescribed for thosewhose mother tongue is notSinhala)

(2) Officers fully proficient and whocan correspond in Tamil (this willcomprise mostly but notexclusively those whose mothertongue is Tamil; a special highlevel proficiency examinationcould be prescribed for thosewhose mother tongue is notTamil)

(3) Officers fully proficient and whocan correspond in English (a highlevel proficiency examinationcould be prescribed for thispurpose)

(4) Officers who have passed theprescribed proficiencyexaminations in Sinhala other

Posting publicservants to

stateinstitutions tomeet needs in

terms oflanguage

requirments

40

than the special high levelexamination referred to in (1)above. (this will comprise mostlythose whose mother tongue isTamil)

(5) Officers who have passed theprescribed proficiencyexaminations in Tamil other thanthe special high level examinationreferred to in (2) above. (this willcomprise mostly those whosemother tongue is Sinhala)

(6) Officers not included in (3) abovebut with minimum proficiency inEnglish (Proficiencyexaminations could be prescribedfor this purpose)

It is suggested that every A.G.A.Division classified under (i) shouldhave staff in all cadre grades of at least50% of (1), 10% of (2), 10% of (3) and15% of (5). All the Divisions ofColombo District excluding theColombo A.G.A. Division would fall intothis category, and would require a

MatchingLanguageneeds of thepublic andLanguagecompetency ofthe publicservices

41

minimum 10% Tamil speaking staffto meet the recommended norm.

Similarly every A.G.A. Divisionclassified under (ii) should have staffin all cadre grades of at least 50% of(2), 10% of (1), 10% of (3) and 15%of (4). All the divisions of Batticaloadistrict would fall into the categoryand would require a minimum of10% Sinhala speaking staff to meet therecommended norm.

It is proposed that every A.G.A.Division classified under (iii) shouldhave staff in all cadre grades of at least50% of (1), 25% of (2) and 10% of(3). Colombo A.G.A. Division wouldfall into this category and wouldrequire a minimum of 25% Tamilspeaking staff to meet therecommended norm.

Likewise, every A.G.A. Divisionclassified under (iv) should have staffin all cadre grade at least 50% of (2),25% of (1) and 10% of (3). NuwaraEliya A.G.A. Division would fall intothis category and would require a

Providing forinstitution thatmay need high

levels ofEnglish

Proficiency

42

minimum of 50% Tamil speaking staffto meet the recommended norm.

Perhaps similar norms may beprescribed in respect of eachMunicipal and Urban Counciladministration based on the linguisticcomposition of the population withinthe Council limits.

In addition, there may be particularinstitutions that may require highproficiency in English and for whichenhanced minimum proportions ofcategories (3) and (6) could beprescribed as required. The totalnumbers of Tamil speaking cadresrequired to meet the above norms arewell within the numbers that wouldhave been available if the principle ofproportional recruitment set out inthe relevant Public Administrationcirculars had been followed.Recruitment policies that ensureadequate language competencies inSinhala, and English would becompatible with the principle ofproportional recruitment.

LanguageTraining tosupplementbut notsubstitute forLanguagesensitiverecruitmentand posting

43

To supplement cadre recruitmentdesigned to achieve the desiredlanguage balance, language trainingprogrammes should be strengthenedand expanded to enable largernumbers greater proficiency in asecond and, preferably, a thirdlanguage. In fact the Ministry ofDefence has initiated 12 weeksresidential training programmes inKotmale and Gampaha for police andarmed forces personnel. Suchprogrammes are long overdue andshould be extended to all grades of thepublic service. However it must bekept in mind that while training couldboost the numbers in categories (4),(5) and (6) above, and services to thepublic could be improved thereby, theimpact of such training on expandingcategories (2) and (3) will be slow andnegligible.

There must be no misconception thatlanguage training could be a substitutefor recruiting adequate numbers ofofficers full proficient in respect oforal, reading and writing the different

Overdue butwelcome

initiative of theMinistry of

Defence

44

languages; there is no alternative toproviding for the appropriatebalanced language skills at the point ofintake. The language composition ofall new recruits should be such as tomove towards fully meeting all aspectsof language competency (oral, andwriting) in all units of the publicservices within five years. Theschemes of recruitment should besuch as to give additional weight tothose with skills in a second or thirdlanguage.

IMPLEMENTATION ANDMONITORING

Remedial measures, howevercomprehensive, may not yield thedesired results without an effectiveimplementation and monitoringsystem, backed by political will. Ourfindings suggest that, by and large theproblems arise less from defects in thelegislative provision (though some ofthe Articles of the Constitution appearto contain ambiguities/contradictions,notably Articles 22(1) and 24(1), and

OfficialLanguageCommissionto beempowered toensurecompliancewith relevantRegulations

45

more from neglect in implementation,monitoring and enforcement atvarious levels.

It is proposed that the OfficialLanguages Commission should beempowered to give directions to allstate institutions in matters relating tothe implementation of the laws andregulations and state policy in respectof the status and use of Sinhala, Tamiland English in all official mattters. TheOfficial Languages Commission shouldwork out a monitoring system basedon periodic reports received from allstate institutions through therespective Ministries. The Chairman,Official Languages Commission shouldbe required to prepare an AnnualReport on progress in respect of allthree languages.

Need for

regular

Language

Audit and

report on it

by the

Commissioner

of Official

Languages

46

In addition, it is recommended thatthere should, for the next five years, bean annual Tamil Language Auditconducted by an organization outsidethe public services commissioned toreview the status of the Tamil languagein the seven provinces outside theNorth East on the basis of samplesurveys. This report should besubmitted to the Chairman, OfficialLanguages Commission who shouldforward it together with hisobservations, the Official LanguagesCommission report referred to in theparagraph above, and hisrecommendations for correctiveaction to Her Excellency the President.

Devanesan NesiahProject Director, 30 December 1998,DG/-

President tobe enabledto overseeprogress

47

Tamil Language Rightsin Sri Lanka

CHAPTER IIIThis part is a reproduction of thesections of the LLRC Report ofDecember 2011 titled the LanguagePolicy, Education and PeaceEducation, followed by somecomments. This Report is much morerecent than the Audit from which PartII is extracted. Moreover, it is based onthe testimony of individuals whovolunteered to appear before theLLRC rather than on surveys ofGovernment institutions and istherefore fundamentally different inseveral respects. ChapterII andChapter III are both unavoidablyconstrained by their respectivemandates but effectively supplementeach other in respect of TamilLanguage rights.

SelectedExtracts

from TheReport of

LLRC

48

LANGUAGE POLICY

9.238 The Commission heard frommany Tamil persons and noted thesense of marginalization expressed bythem due to the language policy andthe deficiencies in its implementationfollowed by successive Governments.

9.239 The Commission during its visitsto the affected areas witnessedfirsthand, that even today manypersons of the minority communitiesare made to transact business not in thelanguage of their choice.

9.240 Whilst acknowledging the workin progress for recruiting Tamil-speaking Police officers, theCommission notes with regret thatrecommendations on urgentmeasures made by the Commission inits interim communication to thePresident on these matters have yet tobe implemented.

9.241 The official bodies for executingthe language policies and monitoringperformance should have adequaterepresentation of the Tamil speaking

Teaching ofLanguagesin Schools

49

people and Tamil speaking regions.The full implementation of thelanguage policy should include actionplans broken down to the communitylevel, and appropriately covering theDivisions and Local Bodies with targetsthat can be monitored with citizenparticipation.

9.242 The people of the North and Eastare separated from the people of theSouth due to communication barriers.Every attempt must be made to createa sense of belonging among all thecitizens irrespective of race, religion orsocial status. It is language that unifiesand binds a nation. Therefore, it isessential that policies relating tolanguage are formulated towards thisend. It is imperative that the officiallanguages policy is implemented in aneffective manner to promoteunderstanding, diversity and nationalintegration.

9.243 The learning of each others’languages should be made acompulsory part of the schoolcurriculum. This would be a primary

LLRCRecommendations

on LanguagePolicy

50

tool to ensure attitudinal changesamongst the two communities.Teaching Tamil to Sinhala children andSinhala to Tamil children will result ingreater understanding of each other’scultures.

9.244 The proper implementation ofthe language policy and ensuringtrilingual (Sinhala, Tamil and English)fluency of future generations becomesvitally important. A tri-lingualeducation will allow children fromvery young days to get to understandeach other.

9.245 The Commission welcomes thegovernment initiative for a trilingualnation by the year 2020. To this endthe necessary budgetary provisionsmust be made available on a prioritybasis for teacher training and staffing.

9.246 No district or province shouldbe categorized in terms of language.Officers in Government service shouldpossess language skills to serve in anypart of the country.

All PoliceStations tohavebilingualcapacity ona 24 hourbasis

Isolation ofthe Peopleof Northand Eastdue to theLanguagebarrier

51

9.247 It should be made compulsorythat all Government offices haveTamil-speaking officers at all times. Inthe case of Police Stations they shouldhave bi-lingual officers on a 24- hourbasis. A complainant should have theright to have his/her statement takendown in the language of their choice.

9.248 The Official LanguagesCommission is centralized and basedin Colombo and not easily accessibleto rural citizenry. The LanguageCommission should be an authoritywith effective powers ofimplementation, and also withbranches in every province.

9.249 Greater attention should begiven to information technology whichcan be utilized as an instrument toovercome the language barrier. For thispurpose, as a temporary measure,software programs can be used fortranslation from one language toanother until long term policies andmeasures take effect.

Emphasis tobe placed

oninformationtechnology

52

9.250 In this regard, the Commissionalso wishes to invite attention to itsInterim Recommendation to stationinterpreters at Police Stations usingretired police officers with bilingualfluency.

EDUCATION

Equal Opportunities

9.251 The removal of the feeling ofdiscrimination is a prerequisite forreconciliation between the Sinhaleseand Tamils in a united Sri Lanka. Muchwater has flowed since the introductionof standardization as a means ofaffirmative action by the state tomitigate the imbalance in educationalopportunities afforded to differentcommunities. Therefore, in the bestinterest of future generations a carefulreview of this quota system would betimely, with a view to introducing amerit based admission system. Thecommission recommends that such areview should be undertaken by acommittee of experts in education.

Eliminatingdisparity inEducationalOpportunities

53

9.252 The Government must pursuewith renewed vigour a programme ofequitable distribution of educationalfacilities so that it will contributetowards a concerted effort to minimizeany feeling of discrimination felt by theminorities. At present the proposedplan to upgrade one thousandsecondary schools island wide from2011, will provide another opportunityto minimize and eventually eliminateimbalances. This policy should beimplemented without creatingtensions and fissures in society. It isonly if these schools are identified onthe basis of objective criteria and onan apolitical selection process that thisendeavour will prove to be a success.The Commission recommends that theinequality in the availability ofeducational facilities in different areasof the country should be reduced andeventually eliminated.

9.253 The Commission alsorecommends that the Governmentshould have a proactive policy toencourage mixed schools servingchildren from different ethnic and

Reintroducing

Schools withmultilingual

streams

54

religious backgrounds. In this regardthe Government should develop acarefully conceived policy facilitatingthe admission of children fromdifferent ethnic and religious groupsto these schools. In respect ofadmissions to schools, disqualifyingstudents on ethnic or religious groundsdoes not augur well for reconciliation.Any such practice should bediscouraged.

9.254 Mutual understanding andappreciation of the rich culturaldiversity of different communitiesshould be inculcated in the minds ofschool children and youth so that theprocess of reconciliation takes firmroot in the social fabric of the country.The Commission therefore recommendsthat every encouragement be given tocreate greater interaction amongstudents, through mechanisms such astwinning of schools from the differentprovinces, student exchangeprogrammes and formation ofReconciliation Clubs in schools. Inaddition the National Youth Council

Promotemutualunderstandingandappreciationof the richculturaldiversitywithin SriLanka.

55

should adopt more intensive exchangeprogrammes at the youth level.

PEACE EDUCATION

9.255 An eminent international jurist,giving evidence before theCommission underlined the vitalimportance of peace education inpromoting unity and reconciliation.Comments of the Commission onpossible curriculum changes arereflected in the body of the Report.

9.256 In giving effect to a trilingualpolicy, measures should be taken toensure, as far as possible, that studentsof different communities have everyopportunity to interact. Interaction inthe same class room should beencouraged, as far as practicable.However, for subjects taught indifferent languages they could bestreamed into different class rooms.

9.257 Steps must be taken to ensurepublic universities have ethnicallymixed student populations with achoice of courses offered in all threelanguages. Until recently, it appears

PromotingInteractionof Sinhalaand Tamil

mediumstudents insecondaryand tertiary

education

Educationfor peaceand unity

56

that most Tamil-speakingundergraduates were confined to theNorth and the East, and the Sinhala –speaking under graduates in the South.

9.258 The Commission is of the viewthat sports build up inter – personalcontacts amongst people of differentcommunities which is essential in theprocess of reconciliation. With this inview, the Commission recommendsthat sports tournaments should beconducted at inter-provincial levelsand important national sportscompetitions should be conductedthroughout the island, especially, in theNorth and East.

COMMENTS RELATING TO THEABOVE EXTRACTS FROM THELLRC REPORT

What is needed to supplement theLLRC Report on this subject,particularly with the view toreconstructing the Sri Lankan Nation?Are the 13th and 16th Amendments tothe Constitution adequate in respect of

Revision ofHistory textbooks topromoteNationalIntegration

57

language rights or are therefundamental legislative changesneeded? Are other major policy andinstitutional changes required? Whatroles do civil society, includingintellectuals and retired publicservants have to play? Which of theseroles are short term palliatives andhow can it be ensured that suchinterim arrangements do not getindefinitely extended and substitutefor fundamental reforms? Do we havethe political will to design andimplement programmes of reformsneeded for nation building?

The LLRC section titled Educationfocuses on equal opportunity, and isexcellent as far as it goes, but needs togo much further. The brief sectiontitled Peace Education also needs to gomuch further. History and Literaturecontain much potential to be unifyingor divisive. In Sri Lanka, teaching ofhistory, including school history texts,has been divisive, especially in relationto Sinhalese –Tamil relations, but also insetting the Sinhalese (“Bhoomiputhras”)

Introductionof

Literaturetext books,

includingtranslations,

with theview to

promotingNational

Integration

58

apart from the rest – invaders /visitors with foreign roots, essentiallybeyond the pale, not fully Sri Lankanin all respects. If the Sinhala Literaturesyllabus in educational institutionscould include originals or translationsof selected writings by Tamils orMuslims and, in turn, the TamilLiterature syllabus could includeoriginals or translations of selectedwritings by Sinhalese, it could do muchto enhance mutual understanding andappreciation. In fact there is muchexcellent Literature in Sinhalese andTamil by Christians and MuslimsThese too could be included in thesyllabuses. Sadly, there does not appearto have been ever any consciousattempt at using literature to promoteinter-ethnic unity and Sri LankanNation building.

Even without any encouragementfrom the State, the bonds linkingdifferent ethnic, religious andlinguistic communities in Sri Lankaare very strong, and the divisivefactors have been much weaker than

CelebrateBuddhistpast of theTamilpeople, andHinduelements inBuddistfestivals

59

in neighbouring countries. Manycultural features are shared, festivalsare celebrated, and places of pilgrimagethroughout the Island visited andrevered by those of all majorcommunities in Sri Lanka. Forexample, Poya is celebrated, though indifferent ways, by Buddhist andHindus. Sinhalese and Tamil New Yearis celebrated not only in Buddhist andHindu but also in Christian and insome Muslim homes, though again indifferent ways. Adams Peak,Kataragama, Madhu and many otherholy places serve the religious needsof Buddhist, Hindus, Christians andMuslims who mingle freely at theseshrines. Very many Buddhist places ofworship, Peraheras and othercelebrations are associated withHindu deities such as Vishnu andPaththini. Several Christian churchescelebrate Sinhala and Tamil New yearin modified forms.

Some religious exclusivists may object,but such syncretism (cultural ratherthan theological) surely contributes to

Make easilyavailable

literature oncommon

cultural andreligiouselements

among theSinhaleseand Tamil

People

60

Sri Lankan national unity. We need tonote that many Christian festivals(including Christmas, Easter and theHarvest festival) are inseparable fromtheir pre-Christian origins, whether inthe timing or in the manner ofcelebration. How can Christianscelebrate such festivals in thetraditional way with borrowings fromnon-Christian sources in Europe andNorth Africa and object to similarborrowings from Asia?

There are other fields that are even lesscontentious. Ven. Dharmaratne Therohas published an excellent booklettitled Buddhism in South India, sold atthe Buddhist Publication centre outlets.That booklet confirms that Buddhismand Jainism were the two dominantreligions of South India, especiallyamong Tamils, around two thousandyears ago. This booklet, in threelanguages, should be made available inall school libraries. Unfortunately suchinformation is not widely known andBuddhism is now sometimes regardedas a religion alien to the Tamils. In fact,Buddhism spread in South India even

JointCelebrationof Commonfestivalsandvenerationof commonholy places

61

before it spread in Sri Lanka and manyof the earliest Buddhist missionariesto Sri Lanka and to various countriesof South East and East Asia were Tamilmonks. The heads of Nalanda University(much older than the major universitiesin Europe, and which was destroyedseveral centuries before Oxford andCambridge were established) wereselected from different parts of India;two of the best known heads werefrom Tamilnadu. Some of the veryearly settlements in Sri Lanka (e.g. atPomparippu in Wilpattu) came fromBuddhist communities of Tamilnaduaround two thousand years ago. Willit not help if such facts are widelyknown?

Of the two major surviving Tamil epicsof around two thousand years ago, onewas Silappadikaram (authored by ascholarly Tamil Jain monk) and theother is Manimekalai (authored by ascholarly Tamil Buddhist monk).Incidentally, in each of these epics, theleading charactor is a woman - anindication of the status of women inTamil society at that time. In fact, thelatter epic is a continuation of the

PrescribeSinhalese

translationsof

SilappadikaramManimekalai

andThirukkural

and TamilTranslationsof Books by

writer such asMartin

Wickramasingheas school text

books

62

former. The heroine of the latter(Manimekalai) was a Buddhist nunand the step daughter of the heroineof the former (Kannahi). Manimekalaiis deeply associated with Sri Lanka towhich she fled to escape the unwantedattention of a Chola prince. It willsurely further Sri Lankan nationbuilding if Sinhala translations ofSilappadikaram and Manimekalai, aswell as Thirukkural are prescribed inthe Sinhala literature syllabuses ofeducational institutions and, in turn,works of distinguished andbroadminded Sinhalese writers suchas Martin Wickramasinhe areprescribed in the Tamil literaturesyllabuses. Those who prescribe textbooks may need to reorient theirpriorities. State policies too need to bereoriented.

Re orientschool textbooks topromoteNational Unityand mutualappreciation

63

Tamil Language Rightsin Sri Lanka

CHAPTER IV

Role of theMedia

The Languages of Sri Lanka: AConstitution for National Unity

Some countries are predominantlymonolingual. Perhaps England, Japan,France, Germany and Thailand could,subject to some qualifications, beplaced in this category. Some othercountries appear to be predominantlybilingual, again subject to somequalifications. This category couldinclude Sri Lanka, Scotland, Belgiumand Spain. Many other countries areunambiguously multilingual. Indiaand South Africa and the former SovietUnion are classic examples of thiscategory. These definitions aredeceptive in that they depend not onlyon how far back in history you trackyour classification, but also on howlarge a language group should be andhow developed the language is to catch

Sri Lanka - AbilingualCountrymovingtowards

trilingualism

64

your attention. For example, which ofthe numerous languages of “tribal”communities scattered over the globeget counted? Whatever our definition,our tally will vary from decade todecade. New dialects are being formedand some old ones are on the way toextinction. Perhaps a few dialects arein the process of becoming recognizedas distinct languages, and a fewlanguages now recognized may be ontheir way to extinction throughdiminishing use.

Whereas such developments haveoccurred over millennia past, modernmedia imposes changes in the processthrough facilitating communicationand as well as competition. On the onehand the preservation and spread ofa particular language may receive aboost through the media; on the otherhand the media may also promote itsrivals and thus expedite the demise ofcertain languages. Thus English isgrowing and gaining ground globally.In some regions, the regionallydominant language is also growing and

3 LanguageFormula,Adopted byIndia forNationalUnity

65

gaining ground, e.g. Mandarin in Chinaand Singapore, endangering thesurvival of local languages spoken bysmall groups. At the same time, a fewlocal languages are helped by themedia to survive and to consolidate.

India began, soon after independence,by attempting to get Hindi adopted asthe dominant language everywhere.This initiative met with stiff oppositionparticularly in South India but also insome other states such as West Bengal.Eventually India adopted the threelanguage formula now prevalent:Hindi, English and one of the othernational languages, with flexibility as towhich of these languages is used as amedium of instruction in schools, andas a language of administration andrecord in particular localities. Thisformula has worked well in thatlanguage riots have virtuallydisappeared, and multilingualproficiency is gradually gainingground. In particular, the use ofEnglish is expanding.

Greater useof English

inEducation

66

In Sri Lanka, a three language policywould be the appropriate use ofSinhala Tamil and English with dueflexibility in respect of medium ofinstruction in schools and the languageof administration and record inparticular localities. There are goodeducational reasons to encourage theuse of the Mother Tongue (the homelanguage) as the medium of instructionin the primary school with the optionof switching to another language(preferably English) as the medium ofinstruction in secondary school / highschool / tertiary education.

In science based streams and in certainother fields there are distinctadvantages in switching to English asearly as feasible in secondary school /high school, so as to ensure that tertiaryeducation could be in English. Thiswould be particularly so in disciplinesin which many technical terms areused and in which much newknowledge is flowing in through theEnglish language. The lack of adequatetranslations of text books could

Teaching ofEnglish

RecruitfromoverseasEnglishMediumSubjectTeachers aswell asEnglishLanguageTeacherson acontractbasis

67

handicap those who follow tertiaryeducation in Sinhala or Tamil.Moreover, good knowledge of Englishwill facilitate interaction with scholarsoversees, which is increasinglynecessary in several fields.

The major problem in the effective useof the English medium in schools is theshortage of teachers competent toteach in the English language. It maybe necessary to get down someEnglish medium and English Languageteachers from overseas on contract forlimited periods. For several reasonsincluding the cost factor we may needto recruit most of such teachers fromIndia. A small number of such teacherscould also be recruited from Englishspeaking countries such as UK,Australia, New Zealand, USA andCanada. We could also do somerecruitment from the Sri LankanDiaspora. This would be easier andwork better if there is progress inresolving our ethnic conflict.

Re introducemulti

Languagemedium

schools tofacilitate the

gaining oftrilingual

proficiency aswell as unity

amongdifferent

ethnic groups

68

Both Sinhala and Tamil are welldeveloped languages spoken by manymillions of highly literate populationwith rich literary heritage going backover two millennia. Moreover, Sinhalais constitutionally entrenched as thepremier official and national languageof Sri Lanka, and Tamil too as anofficial and national language. Tamil isalso a national and state language ofIndia, an official language of Singaporeand is widely used by millions ofpeople in Malaysia and many othercountries. In the circumstances thefuture of these two languages isassured. English too is gaining groundthroughout the Island, and now hasconstitutional recognition as a linklanguage. What we need to do is tofacilitate the use and development ofthese three languages in Sri Lanka andto extract maximum social and culturalbenefit from their interaction. The richheritage covering over two millenniaof the two national languages and theunique value of English need to betapped for the benefit of the entirepopulation of this country.

Promotemultilingualismin schoolsanduniversities

69

The resistance to the use of English hasgreatly diminished as evidenced by theprofusion of English language“tutories” and “international schools”,mostly set up explicitly to facilitate theadoption of English as a medium ofinstruction. Some problems relating tothe use of Tamil language and somesuggestions relating to the use ofSinhala and Tamil languages wereoutlined in Chapter II. Therecommended reforms need to beadopted. What other urgent problemsneed to be tackled and what furtherreforms are needed?

Traditionally, in ethnically mixedareas, the schools have beeninstitutions in which the youth ofdifferent ethnicity mixed and formedlasting relationships. This wasfacilitated by the fact that in thoselocalities many schools were ethnicallymixed. Ever since Sinhala became theonly official language in 1956, andparticularly since Sinhala and TamilReplaced English as the medium ofinstruction in schools, followed soon

Provideincentives tomultilingualcapacity in

recruitment toand higher

education andin to

employement

70

afterwards by the introduction of athird category of Muslim schools, thesethree ethnic categories have becomeincreasingly isolated. Even earlier,many “Estate” schools in plantationareas serving Hill Country Tamilscontributed to the isolation of the lattercategory. Since then, through dividingbilingual schools in to monolingualschools in the interest of“rationalization”, the number ofbilingual schools has been greatlyreduced. Even within the residualbilingual schools, students divide in tolinguistic streams. It is only a few eliteChristian schools that attempt topartially counter such segregation byhaving the classes mixed except inthose subjects in which linguisticsegregation is unavoidable. The new“amity” initiative of some schools beingpermitted to teach four subjects inEnglish (mixing Sinhala and Tamilstream students in those four subjectclasses) is also designed to promote“amity” as well as proficiency inEnglish among students of differentethnicity. But overall, segregation into

Movingtowards aMultilingualSri Lanka

Upgrade allschools inthe estateareas to thelevel ofschoolselsewhere

71

separate linguistic/ethnic streamscontributes to ethnic polarizationwhich may be carried lifelong and into national social, economic andpolitical intercourse.

Many meetings in Sri Lanka areconducted in one language onlybecause it may be costly and tiresometo provide for translation. If themajority are English speaking it maybe conducted in that language.Increasingly, many meetings areconducted in Sinhala except in a fewpredominantly Tamil speaking areas(in which they may be conducted inTamil). Many meetings in the majorcities like Colombo are conducted inSinhala and English even if some ofthose present speak Tamil only. All thiscontributes to ethnic resentment andpolarization. If we evolve in to amultilingual nation this will not be aproblem, since meetings could beconducted in three languages withoutthe need for translations.

The need fora new

Constitutioninclusive

both informulation

and incontent

Promotinginter-ethnic

harmonythrough theConstitution

72

Schools, with due state and civil societybacking, can play a critical part inpromoting bilingual and trilingualproficiency not only through teachingall three languages but also throughappropriate essay, oratorical anddebating competitions, and the awardof prizes for multi lingual proficiency.The state can also help by providingother incentives for multilingualproficiency by appropriate prizes inpublic examinations and preferencesin recruitment to and advancementwithin the public services. Schools thatare predominantly mono-ethnic couldbe encouraged to twin withpredominantly mono-ethnic schools ofanother ethnicity. Programmes such asvisits and even exchanges of studentsfor one or more semesters betweensuch schools could help. Participationin such programmes should get dueconsideration in eventual recruitmentto the public, private and NGO sectors.

The Indianand SouthAfricanexamples inConstitutionmaking

73

All this needs to be set within theframework of national policy and lawsat all levels and, in particular, thenational Constitution. Sadly, none ofour Constitutions were so designed. Infact none of our Constitutions everenjoyed widespread publicacceptance and identification, incontrast to some other Constitutions,notably those of India and SouthAfrica. Our first pre-independence(Soulbury) Constitution was framedby our colonial masters; the 1972Constitution was formulated by asmall caucus of the then SLFP ledcoalition; the 1978 Constitution wasformulated by a small caucus of thethen UNP led coalition. But all threeConstitutions lacked widespreadpublic participation in theirformulation. In this respectConstitutions of several othercountries were very different, leadingto widely different consequences.

Drawinspiration

from theIndian and

SouthAfrican

models inour

Constitutionmaking

74

In India the Chair of the DraftingCommittee was Dr. B. Ambedkar, theleader of the “untouchable” (Dalit)community and who had bitterdecades long public differences withthe national leadership includingGandhi and Nehru. They set upnumerous and very diversecommittees representing everyconceivable category of caste, tribe,religion, language, ethnicity etc.comprising India as well as of othercategories such as women, tradeunions, ideology and historicalbackground (e.g. from princely states)etc. Many thousands of individualswere members of these committeesand a very much larger number gaveevidence. Thus no one had reason tofeel excluded and almost the entireIndian nation “owned” the IndianConstitution. (Granville Austin’s bookof 1966 titled “The IndianConstitution: Cornerstone of a Nation”,Oxford: Clarendon Press). The SouthAfrican Constitution was also similarlyinclusive of all sectors of the SouthAfrican nation.

Identify andAvoid theflaws in thedrafting andin thecontents ofour 1947,1972 and1978Constitutions

75

Towards anew

Constitutionowned by

people of allsections ofour Island

We had the option of formulating suchan inclusive Constitution, but chosenot to do so. The chief architect of the1947 Constitution was British. The1972 and 1978 Constitutions weredesigned to be exclusive rather thaninclusive. It is pertinent to end byquoting the concluding words of a fewindividuals representing theremnants of the Jaff na YouthCongress, writing on behalf of the adhoc All Ceylon Tamil Conference tothose drafting the 1972 Constitutionand quoted in K. Nesiah’s Educationand Human Rights in Sri Lanka, 1983,Chunnakam: Christian Institute for theStudy of Religion and Society in SriLanka:

“If Sri Lanka is to be true to herself,those who are charged with the solemnduty of writing her Constitutionshould pay heed to our heritage bothin the approach to constitution makingand in what they write into it. Ourchildren and our children’s childrenshould be able to say, with one voice-Lanka is our great motherland, and weare one people from shore to shore; we

76

speak two noble languages, but withone voice; and this Constitution whichour fathers fashioned together in timesof yore shall serve as our nation’scharter for the years to be”.

End of Text