Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond
Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond
Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond
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The official languageThe question of official language propelled the <strong>Tamil</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>alQuestion centre stage <strong>in</strong> the early 1950s, when <strong>Tamil</strong>s demandedS<strong>in</strong>hala as well as <strong>Tamil</strong> must be official languages of the wholecountry. If war is not his method, the President would f<strong>in</strong>d it to hisadvantage to honestly acknowledge that the position regard<strong>in</strong>g theofficial language has rema<strong>in</strong>ed the same from the mid-1950s to thepresent. Under Article 18 of the Constitution, as amended by the1987 13 th Amendment, “The official language of <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> shall beS<strong>in</strong>hala” (Art 18.1) while “<strong>Tamil</strong> shall also be an official language”(Art 18.2). That is, S<strong>in</strong>hala is the sole official language of the wholecountry while <strong>Tamil</strong> an official language for specified purposesonly. The Article essentially comb<strong>in</strong>es and restates the 1956Official Language Act (<strong>in</strong> Art 18.1) and the 1958 <strong>Tamil</strong> Language(Special Provisions) Act (<strong>in</strong> Art 18.2). This odious fact is cunn<strong>in</strong>glyobscured by the S<strong>in</strong>hala chauv<strong>in</strong>ists’ propaganda that both areofficial languages of the whole country; and collaborat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Tamil</strong>United Liberation Front (TULF) politicians colluded with them todeceive <strong>Tamil</strong>s by not expos<strong>in</strong>g Article 18 as a cruel deceptionand by mouth<strong>in</strong>g vacuous assertions about the need for “properimplementation” of the provision. Can President Rajapakse amendArticle 18 to make both S<strong>in</strong>hala and <strong>Tamil</strong> the official languagesof the whole country <strong>in</strong> the face of opposition from his S<strong>in</strong>halaextremistcoalition partner, the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP)?Not surpris<strong>in</strong>gly, Rajapakse’s 26 November 2005 policy statementskirts the issue. “A three-year crash programme”, it says, “willbe launched to expedite the full implementation of the officiallanguage policy <strong>in</strong> police stations, Government offices and otherpublic places and m<strong>in</strong>imise obstacles that <strong>Tamil</strong> speak<strong>in</strong>g peopleface when deal<strong>in</strong>g with State organisations.”In other words, he has no <strong>in</strong>tention to amend Article 18. Thisis the second area <strong>in</strong> which his policy will collide with the nonnegotiabledemand of the LTTE-led <strong>Tamil</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>al Movement for<strong>Tamil</strong> to be an official language for the whole country.23