Is Sinhala the Official Language of Sri Lanka? – I

Is Sinhala the Official Language of Sri Lanka? – I

July 28, 2020

By Kalyananda Tiranagama
Executive Director
Lawyers for Human Rights and Development

When I raise this question, one may wonder why I raise this question 64 years after Sinhala was made the Official Language of Sri Lanka by the Official Languages Act, No. 33 of 1956. The people in the country, including the people in the North and the East, the politicians and the political parties in the South may believe that Sinhala is the Official Language of Sri Lanka applicable throughout the country. But the Tamil political parties in the North and the East and the Muslim political parties know that it is not the case. It is they who got this done extending support to Ranasinghe Premadasa to win the 1988 Presidential Election against Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

I was prompted to do this study on the operation of the Official Language Policy in Sri Lanka on my own experience that I gathered from my communications with some public officials in the Eastern Province. In December 2019, I sent a lengthy letter in Sinhala to the Commissioner General of Lands with copies to the Divisional Secretary of Manmunai North and the District Secretariat of Batticaloa complaining about a grave injustice done to a Tamil national in the East by the Divisional Secretary of Manmunai North and the District Secretariat of Batticaloa by depriving him of his right to his land contrary to law. On receipt of my complaint the Commissioner General of Lands convened a meeting of all concerned parties including the Divisional Secretary of Manmunai North and the District Secretary of Batticaloa in January 2020 and directed them to grant relief to the affected person. Ignoring the direction of the Commissioner General of Lands, the Divisional Secretary of Manmunai North and the District Secretariat of Batticaloa sent me their responses in Tamil. Prior to that also they had responded in Tamil some letters that I sent to them in English on the same issue. On the other hand, I found that they had responded in Sinhala to all the letters that they had received from the Commissioner General of Lands.

In 2017, I visited the Uhana Divisional Secretariat in the Ampara District to conduct an educational programme on law and human rights for the staff of the Divisional Secretariat and the general public in the area. There a participant, a soldier, raised a grievance that he had faced. On an inquiry about a state land that belongs to him from the land office at Central Camp, he had got a letter in Tamil. As he did not know Tamil he had to go in search of a translator and pay him Rs. 100 and get the letter translated into Sinhala. That is the plight most of the Sinhala people in the North and the East are facing today.

According to the Constitution, today, Sinhala is not the Official Language of Sri Lanka, it is only an Official Language, one of the two National Languages of Sri Lanka, the language of administration, used for the maintenance of public records and the transaction of all business by public institutions in the seven Provinces where the majority of population speak and use Sinhala for transacting business in and with public institutions. Sinhala is no longer the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka.

As all the public institutions in the seven Provinces – Parliament, Provincial Councils, Local Authorities, Government Departments and Courts use Sinhala to conduct business and to maintain records, and the people can receive communications from and to communicate and transact business with public officials in these areas in the country they assume that Sinhala is the official language of the whole country.

Sinhala remained the Official Language of Sri Lanka continuously for 32 years from 1956 to December 17, 1988. Dr. Colvin R de Silva, who is said to have opposed the Official Languages Act in 1956, saying that one language would result in two countries and two languages in one country, did not think it necessary to change the official language policy of the country when he introduced the 1972 Constitution.

The provisions relating to the Official Language in the 1972 Constitution are as follows:

S. 7. The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala as provided by the Official Languages Act, No. 33 of 1956.

S. 8 (1). The use of the Tamil language shall be in accordance with the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, No. 28 of 1958.

The language rights of the Tamil speaking people have been adequately provided by the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, No. 28 of 1958.

When President J. R. Jayewardene introduced the 1978 Constitution creating Executive Presidency, he did not change the provisions relating to the Official Language in the 1972 Constitution. At the time he introduced the 1978 Constitution, he adopted the provisions relating to the Official Language in the 1972 Constitution.

The following are the provisions relating to the Official Language in the 1978 Constitution.

Art. 18. The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.

Art. 19. The National Languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil.

Art. 22 (1) The Official Language shall be the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka provided that the Tamil Language shall also be used as the language of administration for the maintenance of public records and the transaction of all business by public institutions in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

This is nothing but giving effect to the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, No. 28 of 1958.

By Article 22 (1) JR ensured that Sinhala shall remain the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka including the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Art. 24 (1) The Official Language shall be the language of courts throughout Sri Lanka and accordingly their records and proceedings shall be in the Official Language; Provided that the language of the courts exercising original jurisdiction in the Northern and Eastern Provinces shall also be Tamil and their records and proceedings shall be in Tamil.

Through 1978 Constitution, JR constitutionally guaranteed that: (a) Sinhala shall be the Official Language of Sri Lanka; (b) The Official Language shall be the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka; (c) The Official Language shall be the language of courts throughout Sri Lanka.

At the time JR adopted the 1978 Constitution Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi or the Federal Party was the biggest Opposition political party in Parliament with 17 MPs and A. Amirthalingam was the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

Although Leftist political parties and the SLFP were critical of the Executive Presidency and opposed it, there was not much opposition or public protests on the part of the Tamil political parties against the provisions relating to the Official Language in the 1978 Constitution. When the Official Languages Act was introduced in Parliament in 1956, there were huge protests and civil disobedience campaigns organized by Tamil political parties against it. Probably they may have realized by then that the language rights of the Tamil speaking people have been adequately provided for by the provisions relating to the Official Language in the 1978 Constitution.

Even at the time J. R. Jayewardene was compelled to bring the 13th Amendment to the Constitution setting up Provincial Councils in 1987, he did not amend the provisions relating to the Official Language in Articles 18, 22 (1) and 24 (1) in the 1978 Constitution, although he added two new sub-Articles to facilitate the functioning of the newly set up Provincial Councils in the North and the East.

Art. 18 (2). Tamil shall also be an official language.

18 (3). English shall be the link language.

Tamil was also made an official language so that the Provincial Councils proposed to be set up in the North and the East could conduct their official functions in Tamil without any hindrance. It did not relegate the status given to Sinhala as the Official Language of the whole country.

But all these were changed by Ranasinghe Premadasa to get the support of Tamil and Muslim political parties in the North and the East to win the Presidential Election held in December 1988.

The 1988 Presidential Election was held on December 19, 1988. Two days prior to the Presidential Election, on December 17, 1988 Premadasa got two Amendments – the 15th and the 16th Amendments to the Constitution – enacted. With the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, President Premadasa brought about far-reaching changes in the hitherto existing Official Language policy in the country as shown below:

After the 16th Amendment to the Constitution:

Although nominally Sinhala is The Official Language, in effect it is no longer The Official Language of the country, it is only an Official Language in the sense that it is the language of administration in seven provinces;

It is no longer the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka.

One can say that constitutionally Tamil is the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka as there is no limitation imposed on its application as in the case of Sinhala.

The Proviso to Article 22 (1) could result in the creation of minority linguistic ethnic units at the Divisional Secretariat level using languages different from the language of administration in the province as the language of administration for such area.

Even Arabic may be used as the language of administration for some of such areas like Kattankudy/Saindamaruthu. Already there have been disputes between the Tamil and Muslim communities in Kalmunai each community demanding a separate Divisional Secretariats for themselves.

The 16th Amendment:

a. disabled the Official Languages Act, No. 33 of 1956 and made it ineffective;

b. removed Sinhala from the pedestal that it had occupied all this time as the Official Language of Sri Lanka;

c. relegated Sinhala from being the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka to the language of administration in the seven Provinces of Sri Lanka other than the Northern and Eastern Provinces;

d. raised Tamil from being the language of administration in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka without any restrictions imposed on it as in the case of Sinhala;

e. replaced the use of national languages with English, thereby strengthening the position of communalist politicians to continue their exploitation of poverty and ignorance of their people enabling them to obtain documents from and conduct communications with all public institutions throughout the country in English;

f. instead of promoting national harmony through facilitating communications among public institutions in different areas in the country in national languages, promoted division among people by promoting English as the means of communication among provincial councils and local authorities using different languages as the language of administration.

g. relegated Sinhala from being the language of courts throughout Sri Lanka with their records and proceedings maintained in Sinhala to the language of courts in the 7 Provinces of Sri Lanka other than the Northern and Eastern Provinces;

h. in relation to laws and subordinate legislation enacted by Parliament, removed the requirement that Sinhala text shall prevail in the event of any inconsistency between Sinhala and Tamil or English texts;

i. removed the requirement of persons seeking admission to the Public Service, Judicial Service, Provincial Public Service, Local Government Service or any public institution being examined through the medium of either of the National Languages – Sinhala or Tamil;

Now an applicant has the choice of deciding the language he is to be examined. It may be English or even Arabic.

In fact, this has been brought for the purpose of opening the public service to those students of International Schools who receive their education in English medium and who do not know either Sinhala or Tamil.

j. removed the requirement of persons joining the Public Service acquiring a sufficient knowledge of the official language within a reasonable time after admission to such service;

Now, there is no requirement for any public servant in the North and the East to acquire any knowledge of the Sinhala language; he has only to acquire knowledge of the language as is reasonably necessary for the discharge of his duties – that is Tamil.

k. Removed the requirement of publishing all Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws, regulations and notifications made or issued under any written law by any public institution, Provincial Council or a local authority in both National Languages;

l. Required all public institutions other than Provincial Councils or local authorities to publish all such documents in Sinhala and Tamil together with a translation thereof in English;

m. Required the Provincial Councils and local authorities to publish all Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws, regulations and notifications made or issued under any written law by them and all other official documents including circulars and forms issued or used by such body or local authority, in the language of administration in the areas in which they function, together with a with a translation thereof in English.

This has resulted in the denial of the rights of tens of thousands of Sinhala speaking people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in Sri Lanka from conducting communications with Provincial administrations and local authorities in their national language and placing them in great difficulty, compelling them to transact their communications with public institutions in Tamil, a language they are not conversant with.

The availability of English translation will not help the ordinary people, whether Tamil or Sinhala speaking. It has been done at the request of and for the benefit of the leaders of Tamil and Muslim political parties who continue to hoodwink the masses of the helpless Tamil speaking people with their false slogans of winning the rights of Tamil speaking people, while they themselves enjoy all the privileges conducting all their transactions in English.

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How Premadasa turned the Official Language Policy upside down

By Kalyananda Tiranagama
Executive Director
Lawyers for Human Rights and Development
(Part I of this article appeared yesterday)

On a comparison of the provisions in JR’s 1978 Constitution and Ranasinghe Premadasa’s, 16th Amendment one can clearly see how the Official Language Policy of Sri Lanka has been turned upside down through this Amendment. Let us take Article by Article and compare them:

Art. 18(1). The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
16th Amendment did not touch this Article. If this was amended it would have been too conspicuous. Leaving it untouched helped them to hoodwink the unsuspecting people with the false belief that Sinhala still remains the official language of the whole country.

Art. 18 (2). Tamil shall also be an official language.

18 (3). English shall be the link language.

Art. 19. The National Languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil.
These three Articles were also left untouched as there was no necessity to repeal or amend them to achieve their objective of replacing Sinhala as the official language. Leaving them untouched helped them to use the provisions in these Articles for achieving their objective.

Language of administration
Articles 22 (1), 22 (2) and 22 (3) in the 1978 Constitution dealing with the language of administration in the country were repealed and new Articles substituted by the 16th Amendment.
Under the 1978 Constitution, while Sinhala, The Official Language, was the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka, Tamil was also used as the language of administration in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

After the 16th Amendment, (i) Sinhala is no longer The Official Language of Sri Lanka and Sinhala is no longer the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka. Under the 16th Amendment, (ii) Sinhala and Tamil both are languages of administration throughout Sri Lanka; (iii) Use of Sinhala as the language of administration is confined to seven provinces of Sri Lanka other than the Northern and Eastern Provinces; (iv)There is no similar limitation imposed on the use of Tamil language as the language of administration in the rest of the country, though practically Tamil is used as the language of administration in the Northern and Eastern Provinces; (v) Under the Proviso to Article 22 (1), President has the power to create minority linguistic ethnic units at the Divisional Secretariat level using a language different from the language of administration in the province and direct that the language used by the linguistic minority in the District be used as the language of administration for such area.

This proviso is a very dangerous one that can be used by racist politicians of ethnic and religious minority political parties as a bargaining tool in their dealings with power-hungry political leaders in the South during election times.

As reported in the national press, during the 2005 Presidential Election, Muslim Congress of Rauff Hakeem decided to support Ranil Wickremesinghe after the latter had agreed to a 67-point list of demands including autonomy for a Muslim Region in the East. A political group working in the plantation areas extended its support to him after he had accepted 19 demands presented by them including the appointment of Tamil Grama Niladharis for estate areas and the creation of separate Divisional Secretariats for areas with a concentration of plantation workers in the South.

This is a step by step process. First, they get local government areas with a linguistic or religious majority created by removing people belonging to other communities. That is how they got four new Pradesiya Sabhas exclusively with Tamil representation in the Nuwara Eliya District at the last local government elections. Their next step is to get these Pradesiya Sabha areas declared Divisional Secretariats. After that, they can take the third step of converting them into administrative units using Tamil as the language of administration of such area.

Already there have been disputes between the Tamil and Muslim communities in Kalmunai each community demanding a separate Divisional Secretariat for themselves. A few months back it was reported that Saindamaruthu had been declared a separate Municipal Council area. Under this provision, there is a possibility of using even Arabic as the language of administration for some of such areas like Kattankudy/Saindamaruthu or Wilpattu.
Under Article 22 (2) the 1978 Constitution, any citizen residing anywhere in the country was entitled – (a) to receive communications from and to communicate and transact business with any official … or (b) to obtain a copy of … any official … document or a translation thereof – in either of the National Languages;

Under the 16th Amendment, (i) In any area where Sinhala is used as the language of administration a person is entitled – (a) to receive communications from and to communicate and transact business with any official …. or (b) to obtain a copy of … any official … document or a translation thereof – in either Tamil or English;

(ii) In any area where Tamil is used as the language of administration a
person is entitled – a) to exercise the rights and obtain the services referred to above in Sinhala or English ;

Under Article 22 (3) of the 1978 Constitution, a local authority in the Northern and Eastern Provinces conducting its business in either of the National Languages … is entitled to receive communications from and to communicate and transact business with any official … in such National Language.

Under Article 22 (4) of the 16th Amendment, a Provincial Council or a local authority conducting its business in Sinhala … entitled to … transact business with any official … in Sinhala and Provincial Council or a local authority conducting its business in Tamil … entitled to… transact business with any official … in Tamil.

However, a Provincial Council or a local authority, ….. transacting business with any other Provincial Council or a local authority,……functioning in an area in which a different language is used as the language of administration …. entitled to …. to communicate and transact business in English.

By the 16th Amendment, English has been raised to the level of the Official Language of Sri Lanka, or at least to the level of a national language of Sri Lanka.
Language of Legislation:

Articles 23 of the 1978 Constitution dealing with the language of legislation was repealed and a new Article substituted by the 16th Amendment.

Art. 23 (1) of the 1978 Constitution required all laws and subordinate legislation to be enacted and published in both National Languages together with a translation in English Language.
In the event of any inconsistency between any two texts, the text in Sinhala, the Official Language prevailed.

Under Art. 23 (1) of the 16th Amendment all laws and subordinate legislation required to be enacted and published in Sinhala and Tamil together with a translation thereof in English.
Proviso – Parliament to determine at the time of enacting legislation which text to prevail in the event of any inconsistency between texts.

There is no difference in the substantive provision. Both are the same.
However, there is a fundamental change in the law, as to the text that should prevail in the event of any inconsistency between any two texts.
Under the 1978 Constitution, it was the text in the Official Language that should prevail. Now there is no Official Language in the country.

Under the 16th Amendment, at the time of enacting legislation, Parliament to determine which text to prevail in the event of any inconsistency between texts.
This provision may lead to dangerous consequences if the Parliament decides the English text to prevail in the event of any inconsistency between Sinhala and English texts in the case of a vital Bill enacted by a government heavily dependent for its survival on the support of racist parties like the TNA and the SLMC.

Sometime back the whole country saw how Sumanthiran threatened and stopped Lakshman Kiriella, the Leader of the House of UNP government from continuing his speech in Parliament.

Article 22 (4) of the 1978 Constitution required all Orders, Proclamations, Rules, By-laws, Regulations and Notifications made or issued under any written law … and all other official documents including circulars and forms issued or used by any public institution or local authority, to be published in both National Languages.

There was no requirement to publish the said documents with a translation in English. Only laws and subsidiary legislation enacted by Parliament published with a translation in English.

Until 1987, there had been no Provincial Councils. Only local authorities were there. Local authorities were also required to publish by-laws, regulations, notifications … circulars and forms issued or used by them in both National Languages.

Article 23 (2) of the 16th Amendment requires all Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws, regulations and notifications made or issued under any written law, other than by a Provincial Council or a local authority, and the Gazette to be published in Sinhala and Tamil together with a translation thereof in English.

Under Article 23 (3) of the 16th Amendment, all Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws, regulations and notifications made or issued under any written law by any Provincial Council or a local authority, and all other official documents including circulars and forms issued or used by such body or any public institution or local authority, required to be published in the language used in the administration in the respective areas in which they function, together with a translation thereof in English.

All the documents mentioned above made or issued by any public institution, other than a Provincial Council or a local authority, need to be published in both national languages – Sinhala and Tamil, together with a translation in English.

Under the 1978 Constitution, there was no such requirement for publishing the said documents together with a translation in English.

Under the 1978 Constitution, all by-laws, regulations, notifications … circulars and forms issued or used by Local authorities were required to be published in both National Languages.

Under the 16th Amendment, there is no requirement for publishing any Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws, regulations, notifications made or issued by any Provincial Council or a local authority, and all other official documents including circulars and forms issued or used by such body in both National Languages.

They need to be published only in the language of administration in the area in which they function, together with a translation thereof in English.

The language of administration in the Northern and Eastern Provinces is Tamil and when all the above mentioned official documents published only in the Tamil language it will result in grave injustice to the Sinhala people resident in the North and the East. They are being totally deprived of their language rights.

Language of Courts

Article 24 (1) of the 1978 Constitution dealing with the language of courts in the country has been repealed and a new Article substituted by the 16th Amendment.

Under Art. 24 (1) of the 1978 Constitution, Sinhala, the Official Language, was the language of courts throughout Sri Lanka and accordingly court records were maintained and proceedings conducted in the Official Language;

Tamil was also used as the language of the courts exercising original jurisdiction in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and their records kept and proceedings conducted in Tamil.
Under Article 24 (1) of the 16th Amendment, Sinhala and Tamil are the languages of courts throughout Sri Lanka and Sinhala shall be used as the language of the courts situated in all the areas of Sri Lanka except those in any area where Tamil is the language of administration. The record and proceedings shall be in the language of the court.
As Sinhala is no longer The Official Language of Sri Lanka, there is no need to maintain records and conduct proceedings in Sinhala in areas where Tamil is the language of administration.

Language of Admission to Public Service

Article 22 (5) of the 1978 Constitution dealing with the language of admission to public service in the country has been repealed and a new Article substituted by the 16th Amendment.

Under Article 22 (5) of the 1978 Constitution, a person was entitled to be examined through the medium of either of the National Languages at any examination for the admission of persons to the Public Service, Judicial Service, Local Government Service, a public corporation or a statutory institution, subject to the condition that he may be required to acquire sufficient knowledge of the official language within a reasonable time after admission to such service, etc., where such knowledge is reasonably necessary for the discharge of his duties.

Under Article 22 (5) the 16th Amendment, a person is entitled to be examined through the medium of either Sinhala or Tamil or a language of his choice at any examination for the admission of persons to the Public Service, Judicial Service, Provincial Public Service, Local Government Service or any public institution, subject to the condition that he may be required to acquire a sufficient knowledge of Tamil or Sinhala as the case may be, within a reasonable time after admission to such service, etc., where such knowledge is reasonably necessary for the discharge of his duties.

. removed the requirement of persons seeking admission to the Public Service, Judicial Service, Provincial Public Service, Local Government Service or any public institution being examined through the medium of either of the National Languages – Sinhala or Tamil;
 Now the applicant has the choice of deciding the language he is to be examined. It may be English or even Arabic.

 In fact, this has been brought for the purpose of opening the public service to those students of International Schools who receive their education in English medium and who do not know either Sinhala or Tamil.
b. removed the requirement of persons joining the Public Service acquiring sufficient knowledge of the official language within a reasonable time after admission to such service;

Now, there is no requirement of any public servant in the North and the East acquiring any knowledge of Sinhala language; He has only to acquire knowledge of the language as is reasonably necessary for the discharge of his duties – that is Tamil.
island.lk
https://ceylon-ananda.com/how-premadasa-turned-the-official-language-policy-upside-down/
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16A removed Sinhala as country’s Official Language


 August 17, 2020


I refer to the two articles of Kalyananda Tiranagama, Executive Director, Lawyers for Human Rights and Development, under the titles “Is Sinhala the Official Language of Sri Lanka” and “How Premadasa turned the Official Language Policy upside down” in The Island dated 28th and 29th July respectively.

The articles quoting typical examples of the plight the Sinhala people in the North and the East are facing today gave a detailed account analysing how the crafty Tamil and Muslim politicians in the North and East got the relevant Constitutional provisions changed to suit them, by extending the support to the power-hungry politicians in the South.

As stated by Mr Tiranagama, the people in our country, including the politicians and the political parties in the South, may believe that Sinhala is the Official Language of Sri Lanka applicable throughout the country. But the Tamil and Muslim politicians in the North and the East know that it is not the case.

We have seen several articles and heard many speeches expressing the harmful effects of 13th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution and why those should be repealed or replaced. Unfortunately, people in our country, including most of the current politicians in the South, seem unaware of the contents of the 16th Amendment or its repercussions which was introduced in December 1988, just 2 days prior to the Presidential Election, when disappearances, abductions and killings were the norms of the day during the infamous ‘Bheesana Samaya’ in the late 80s.

Thus, we must be grateful to Mr Tiranagama for educating the readers on this important subject and its impact on the general public, and thankful to The Island newspaper for publishing the said valuable articles https://island.lk/is-sinhala-the-official-language-of-sri-lanka-i/ and https://island.lk/how-premadasa-turned-the-official-language-policy-upside-down/
Sinhala remained the Official Language of Sri Lanka continuously for 32 years from 1956 to 1988. Although Tamil was also made an official language in 1987 under the 13th Amendment, it did not relegate the status given to Sinhala as the Official Language of the whole country.

As per the 16th Amendment made in 1988, Sinhala language, in effect, is no longer The Official Language or the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka. It is only an Official Language, in the sense that it is the language of administration in seven provinces other than the Northern and Eastern Provinces, whereas Tamil can be the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka in addition to its Official Language status since there is no limitation imposed on its application as in the case of Sinhala. Sinhala is no longer the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka.

As stated in the article, this has resulted in the denial of the rights of tens of thousands of Sinhala speaking people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in Sri Lanka from conducting communications with Provincial administrations and local authorities in their national language and placing them in great difficulty, compelling them to transact their communications with public institutions in Tamil, a language they are not conversant with.
The articles also state how the provisions of the 16th Amendment paved the way for the creation of minority linguistic ethnic units at the Divisional Secretariat level, using languages different from the language of administration in the province as the language of administration for such areas. The said articles reveal, citing examples, how racist politicians of ethnic and religious minority political parties, have bargained and are continuing, step by step, to do so with the power-hungry political leaders in the South, during election times.
As I remember, Dr Colvin R de Silva, deputy leader of the LSSP who opposed the Official Languages Act in 1956, said that one language would result in two countries. What is really happening today is that two languages in one country are gradually paving the way for resulting in two countries at the end.
S. AKURUGODA
https://island.lk/16a-removed-sinhala-as-countrys-official-language/

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Writer and Journalist living in Canada since 1987. Tamil activist.

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