{"id":90608,"date":"2019-06-20T17:33:18","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T00:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=90608"},"modified":"2019-09-12T15:57:45","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T22:57:45","slug":"the-tamil-language-in-sri-lanka-part-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/06\/20\/the-tamil-language-in-sri-lanka-part-15\/","title":{"rendered":"THE TAMIL LANGUAGE IN SRI LANKA Part 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised 9.9.19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts pointed out that turning Sri Lanka into a bilingual state\nwould not be an easy task. It would take a long time.  In 2008, Raja Collure pointed out that in\nCanada, the process of bilingualisation has already taken over forty\nyears.  And in   Canada, unlike Sri Lanka, the two languages\nEnglish and French shared the same script. In Sri Lanka the Sinhala and Tamil\nscripts were completely different. We\ncannot dream of a bilingual government service even within the next few\ndecades, said Minister Ganesan in 2017.  \nIf so, then a trilingual society is also far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start, the country mechanically followed the\nbilingual\/trilingual language policy. At the Sarasavi film awards 1998, all the\nfilms that came up for awards were Sinhala, but every single announcement\nincluding the remarks of the winners were laboriously translated into Tamil.\nThis was soon abandoned. It was too cumbersome. Activities were carried out in\na single language with brief translations in the other two languages, if at\nall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bilingual language policy can be used to delay, obstruct and\ndistort. The first meeting of the Galle Municipal Council for 2018 had to be\ntemporarily suspended due to a language matter. Mayor Priyantha Sahabandu had\ndelivered a speech in Sinhala at the start of the meeting. Councilor M.M.Rihana\ncomplained that it was in Sinhala and that she could not understand it. Rihana\nasked for a translation to be provided to her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pointed out that her fundamental rights had been violated due\nto a lack of translation services available at the Council. It took over one\nand a half hours for the Council to reconvene. A Muslim clerk working at the\nMunicipal Council was found to function as an interpreter and the Council\nmeeting was able to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2002 it was observed that shipping legation got delayed because\nof the trilingual policy. International Maritime Organization had decalred some\nconditions relating to shipping and Sri Lanka had ratified them. But when it\ncame to incorporating these into Sri Lanka\u2019s    \nshipping legislation, there was a problem with the Tamil terms and the legislation\nwas delayed.  The legislation had to be\nissued in all three languages at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very serious misuse of the bilingual language policy took place\nwith regard to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The present   constitution, (1978) declared that Sri Lanka\nwas a\u201d unitary state\u201d. This was confirmed in both, the Sinhala and Tamil\nversions. The Sinhala version said Ekeeiya rajya\u2019 and Tamil version said Otriyatchi\u201d. But In the draft Constitution\ndrawn up by Yahapalana in 2019, the Sinhala version continued to say \u2018ekeeiya rajya\u2019 but the Tamil version said\nOrumiththa Nadu\u201d. \u2018Orumiththa nadu\u2019   is\nnot \u2018unitary state\u2019. Orumiththa Nadu means \u2018a country that is formed by\namalgamation.\u2019 This implies that Sri Lanka is a Federal State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public are prepared to accept\na bilingual language policy, provided it is Sinhala and English, not Sinhala\nand Tamil. Derana Sinhala service had special news broadcast, on 22nd<\/sup>\nApril 2019,   after the Easter Bomb\nblast. Breaking news\u201d was given, as it happened ,  in Sinhala and English. Tamil was forgotten. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2002, Ceylon Cold Stores\nadvertised for trainee brand managers fluent in Sinhala and English.  In September 2002, Bonsoir asked for a\nco-coordinator fluent in English, French and Sinhala.  A parent announced, Don\u2019t let the state\nforce Tamil down our children\u2019s throat. I \nwant my child only to learn Sinhala and English. The only compulsory language other than\nSinhala should be English,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \nnew website by the United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) set up in\n2018 for the local government elections, called \u2018Nidahas Yugayak\u2019, is exclusively in Sinhala, said Sanjana Hattotuwa. There is not a\nsingle word or section on it in English or Tamil. All featured videos are in\nSinhala. All the related social media accounts are in Sinhala. All the\nPresident\u2019s speeches are in Sinhala.\nBut where is the outrage asked Sanjana Hattotuwa. Social media is\nalso largely silent about the discrimination against the Tamil language and\nTamil peoples by Google\nand Microsoft, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nis no outrage because Tamil speakers are ready to work in Sinhala . Most Tamils\nwho live in the south, and today there are probably more Tamils in the South\nthan in the North, already know and use Sinhala, said Sebastian Rasalingam in\n2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Researchers\nreported in 2014 that in most of the \nadministrative divisions declared as bilingual, the administration was\ndone in Sinhala, and the Tamil speaking community accepted this. In Ambagamuwa\ndivision in Badulla district.  the Tamils\nwere in the majority in towns and estates, but the  staff in the DS offices conducted their work in Sinhala. Office\nfiles were maintained in Sinhala.  In Hali\nEla DS office many Tamil speakers complete their forms in Sinhala and made\nwritten submissions in Sinhala. If the estate Tamils can come to Colombo and\nget their work done at pass port offices and at the job agents to offices it\nwould seem that they can communicate effectively, said Rasalingam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Colombo there was a sizeable number of Sri Lankan Tamil, Indian\nTamils, Sri Lankan Moors and Malays. The majority were competent in Sinhala\nboth spoken and written. They were therefore able to do business with the\ngovernment institutions in Sinhala. The Police stations in Colombo operate\nalmost exclusively, in Sinhala but the majority of Tamil speakers can manage in\nSinhala, Selvakumaran observed in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, at the National Savings Bank ,  a Tamil client refused to  even look at the Tamil  version of the document  he had come for. \u2018All three documents will be\nthe same\u2019 he said and readily signed the Sinhala version, giving his wife\naccess to his locker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils and Muslims already know Sinhala and speak it well,\nfluently and stylishly. Both groups want their children educated in the Sinhala\nmedium The Indian\nTamils on estates have also indicated they want Sinhala. But their schools\nteach in Tamil. Therefore estate Tamils are learning Sinhala privately.   The Tamil medium is dying out in schools. \u2018Introduce a\nSinhala stream into all Tamil schools at Grade one and see what happens\u2019 said\ncritics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1997, a delegation of Muslims told the\nMinister of Education that a large number of Muslims outside the North and East\nwere switching on to the Sinhala medium.  They wanted a special officer to\nsupervise and coordinate Sinhala teaching in Muslim schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Wimala\nRatnayake has stated that when she left teaching in 1986, she found an\nincreasing demand by some Muslims and even a few Tamil parents to get their\nchildren admitted to the Sinhala stream in Colombo. (Daily News 26.9.97 p\n7)  A growing proportion of Muslims in Sinhala areas are opting for\nSinhala as the medium of education instead of Tamil, said Devanesan Nesiah in\n2015.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslim parents have been trying for decades, to get their children\ninto the Sinhala medium in school. They complain that when they try to get their\nchildren admitted to the Sinhala stream the authorities refuse to do so. They\nadmit the children to the Tamil stream. The reason given by the education authorities was\nthat otherwise the Tamil stream would not have any pupils and would die out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1998, Muslims in Kandy district alleged, with\nevidence, that Muslim and Tamil children were denied admission to the Sinhala\nstream. One parent had filed a Fundamental rights case on this matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil speakers in the north are also interested in learning\nSinhala. Presidential\nSecretariat of the Government of Sri Lanka (PRIU) said that Sinhala language teaching was started in the north\nin 2009 itself.  It was taught in\npre-school as well. . A survey   in 2013 found\nthat nearly 80% of Tamils in the north are willing to learn Sinhala along with\nEnglish. A Trilingual Learning Centre was started at Kalviyankadu,  Jaffna in 2014. A huge number of applications\nwere  received from Jaffna alone, in 2014,\nto learn Sinhala    at this centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2014 Sinhala language training had been provided in Vavuniya\nand Punthottam, Mannar, Mullativu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna. Children in all five\ndistricts of the north were given the opportunity to learn Sinhala and English\nfor six months in the after school hours at Mankulam Maha Vidyalaya in\nMullaitivu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhala language classes for Tamil speakers, and  public officers in north and east are held\nduring weekends, courses are well organized and keenly attended with a\nremarkable rate of success reported Tudor Silva in his 2014  study \non the language needs and services in selected bilingual administration\ndivisions in Sri Lanka . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is an imbalance in the teaching of Sinhala and Tamil at\ngovernment service level. The government has been slow to start teaching\nSinhala to Tamil government servants. First batch of public service Tamil officers from five secretarial\ndivisions in Batticaloa district passed out in 2012 from the National Institute\nof Language education and training.  The\nInstitute said in 2014 that 700 have now learnt Tamil and 200 Tamils have\nlearned Sinhala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil speakers who said they did not know\nSinhala were  criticized. A Tamil whose family had lived for three generations in Colombo, complained that  the government department he went to did  not have \nTamil speaking officer to deal with his needs. This was greeted with scorn.\nAfter living all his  life among\nSinhalese did  he not know  enough Sinhala to conduct his business,  critics asked.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total population of Tamils in the 2012 Census was 2,269,266.\nOut of this, 392,583  (17.3%) know\nSinhala. This leaves 1,876,683 who do not know\nSinhala.  This amounts to 2 million out\nof a total  Sri Lankan population of  20 million. Instead of teaching this 2\nmillion  to speak in Sinhala, the state\nhas decided to make the  other 18 million\nlearn Tamil. This is absurd.  Further, a\nSinhala speaker  is expected to know  Tamil to serve as a public servant even in\nSinhalese areas where Tamils are only 5% or less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nreader wrote in to a newspaper, asking  \u2018why  should I \nlearn Tamil. The Tamils should learn Sinhalese. Where in the world is it\nnecessary for the majority to learn the minority language. The rule worldwide\nis for the minority to learn the language of the majority population. Which\ncounty in the world could force a minority language down the throats of its\nmajority citizens.  Tamils readily learn\nthe language of  the countries they\nemigrate to. It is  only in Sri Lanka\nthey find it difficult  to learn Sinhala.\nTamils have gone to countries like Norway or Poland and learnt those difficult\nlanguages in record time\u201d, he concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emphasis on Tamil language did not lead to\nan elevation of the Tamil language, as the Tamil lobby hoped. It went the other\nway. It led to an elevation of Sinhala. At Independence Day celebrations, the\nmain speech is always in Sinhala, with  \nquick, short translations in Tamil and English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clause 23 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka said\nAll laws and subordinate legislation shall be enacted or made and published in\nSinhala and Tamil, together with a translation thereof in English\u201d. Then it\nsaid that Parliament shall, at the stage of enactment of any law determine\nwhich text shall prevail in the event of any inconsistency between texts . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This\nhas been scrupulously followed and all Acts of Parliament say in its final\nclause “In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts\nof this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail\u201d. This made the position of Sinhala\nstronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of more than 240,000 letters are\nreceived monthly by all 49 ministries and among these, the overwhelming\nmajority (70%) are in the Sinhala language, 25% are in English and 5% are in\nthe Tamil language, said the Centre for Policy Alternatives after a survey in\n2017. Only about 1% of the correspondence received in the Hali Ela DS office\nwas in Tamil said Tudor Silva after a survey in 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a clear preference in the modern\nworld for just one language per country. This is usually the language\nconsidered indigenous to that country. \nIn Sri Lanka this means Sinhala. Sinhala   today is not like Sinhala yesterday. Sinhala\nnow has a greatly improved image. It is used everywhere and can cater to any\nsubject. There is an impressive vocabulary and stylish delivery. Sinhala has\ngreater strength and vitality than it had in 1956.  Everyone, from President and Prime Minister downwards\nspeak it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many advantages in having just one national language. A common language helps to link the total\npopulation   and create a sense of community. Communication\nincreases understanding among people and eliminates misunderstandings. A single official language will also act as a\nleveler, because it will provide a level playing field. A multilingual language policy is time consuming and\nexpensive.  It also means \u2018language load\u2019\nwhere citizens need to know at least two languages or, preferably three, English, Sinhala and\nTamil. A single language will do away with\u2019 language load\u2019  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the practical level it\nwill be more economical to work in one language than three. One language will\ncut administration costs. At present the state sector is producing documents in\ntriplicate, in three different languages. \nOne language will avoid delay in communication with the state.  It will help citizens to communicate with the\nstate without the tension of translations and interpreters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be great if everyone spoke and understood Sinhala which\nis the language spoken for communication among the Sri Lankans now that English\nhas declined, said R.M.B Senanayake . It\nwould be great also to see the promotion of mutual understanding if all Sri\nLankans spoke Sinhala. In 1956, it was done the wrong way. By forcing it on non-Sinhala speakers. .The Sinhalese extremists have to take the blame. But now that we\nhave learnt from our mistakes, we should seek to promote a common language\namong all our people by mutual consent. Sinhala fills such a role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil people should be free to consider Sinhala as their language\nof school education if they so wish and except in the North and perhaps to some\nextent in the East many Tamil people may prefer to learn Sinhala in school as\ntheir main language with Tamil as a secondary language..When I served in Jaffna\nin the early 1950s, I noticed how Tamil people liked to speak in Sinhala, said\nR.M.B Senanayake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITIONS TO\nREVISED ESSAY.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITION 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 there was\nan Official Language Day and Week from July 1 to July 5. This would include an\nOfficial Language School Day with the theme \u2018promoting bilinguality\u2019, and an\nOfficial Language Youth Day on the theme of \u2018blooming of language \u2018  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITION 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Circular issued by the PSC in 2014\/1, said that all public\nservants who joined the Service after 2007, must have an Ordinary Level pass in\nthe Sinhala or Tamil Language, as the case may be. Accordingly, Sinhala public\nservants need to have Tamil proficiency and vice-a-versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 However, teachers unions   complained\nthat teachers, who could not reach this level, were deprived of their annual\nincrements and promotions. The Public Services Commission then issued amended\nCircular, No.2014\/1(IV), which   said that\nas of January 31, 2017 teachers over 50 years were allowed to follow 100 hours\nof Sinhala\/Tamil Language course, Instead of an Ordinary Level pass in the\nsecond language,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In June 2019, public sector\ntrade unions also asked for this concession. They want an amendment to the\nCircular and asked Ministry of Public Administration and  Ministry of National Integration and Official\nLanguages   to submit a Cabinet paper\nregarding the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITION 3 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

British Council In June 2019 initiated, a Tamil language course\nfor public officials, in partnership with the National Institute for Language\nEducation and Training (NILET). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

British Council announced that it will hold a four-week intensive\ntraining course for a core group of NILET trainers. They will be shown a\ntask-based methodology for teaching Tamil as a second language to public officials.\nThey will learn to use a content and language integrated approach. This\nincludes not only teaching grammar, vocabulary, speaking and listening in a\nmotivating and participatory way, but also addressing language needs in the\npublic service, such as health, education, social services, employment and\npolice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NILET trainers will practice this new\nmethodology by delivering a specially developed Tamil language course to\nSinhala speaking officers from two bi-lingual Divisions in the Kandy area.\nField officers have been selected using a new Tamil Language Placement Test\nwhich objectively measures their second language skills. By the end of the\nproject, 150 NILET trainers will have made more than 600 public servants\nproficient in Tamil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course is part of “Strengthening\nReconciliation Processes in Sri Lanka” (SRP), a four-year program launched\nin March 2018. SRP is jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and the German\nFederal Foreign Office. It is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft f\u00fcr\nInternationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the British Council in partnership\nwith the Ministry of National Integration, Official Languages, Social Progress\nand Hindu Religious Affairs.\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITION 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

National\nIntegration, Official Languages, Social Development and Hindu Religious Affairs\nMinister Mano Ganesan,  said In June\n2019  that if the people had understood\none another\u2019s language and respected them, there wouldn\u2019t have been a national\nproblem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ganesan said that he didn\u2019t believe that there\nwas such a big issue over language contrary to claims made in some\nquarters.” there was no issue regarding the language issue among political\nparties and races as all agreed on it.”Ganesan said. Sinhala and Tamil\nwere official languages and English was the link language. “This is our\nlanguage policy.”He said that all sign boards in the country should be in\nall three languages. (Concluded)\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 9.9.19 Analysts pointed out that turning Sri Lanka into a bilingual state would not be an easy task. It would take a long time.  In 2008, Raja Collure pointed out that in Canada, the process of bilingualisation has already taken over forty years.  And in   Canada, unlike Sri Lanka, the two languages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}