Sri Lanka: What a crying shame!

Tue Mar 11 14:25:15 UTC 2008

What a crying shame!

By Kumar Rupesinghe

In 1988, Sinhala and Tamil were pronounced the two Official Languages
of Sri Lanka, through an Amendment to the Constitution. At that point,
it was envisaged that both Sinhala and Tamil would be implemented as
the languages of administration of the country. In fact, a number of
laws, circulars and Acts have been put into place by successive
governments to ensure this. Unfortunately, in 2008, Sri Lanka still
has an administration with less than 10% Tamil language capacity. As a
glaring indictment to the lack of implementation of the Official
Languages Policy, the country has a Police Department that is for the
most part not capable of dealing with the Tamil public in the Tamil
language.

The implications this has for the security and human rights situation
in this country, given the current context, are almost unimaginable.
In a situation where the Tamils, whether they live in the North and
East or elsewhere in the country, have to deal with public
institutions on a daily basis ,the inability to conduct their business
in their own language has profound implications for their dignity and
identity as equal citizens in this country.

Language Rights and the Police

People interact often with the police for a variety of reasons. One
good example of the problems faced as a result of the lack of
implementation of the Official Languages Policy is the inability of
our law enforcement agencies to deal with the Tamil people in their
own language. Out of 70,000 police officers in the country, less than
700 are Tamil. In the Colombo Police Division there are only around 50
officers who are native Tamil speakers, according to our sources. This
is of a total strength of 4,000. While there are language classes for
officers, it is unlikely that these classes afford the capability
required to conduct an interrogation, question a suspect or take a
statement from a witness. Clearly, without the capacity to deal with
the public in the second Official Language of the country, it is
unlikely that the police can carry out their duty to serve and protect
all of the citizens of the country in a proper manner.

According to police regulations, it is necessary for officers to show
aptitude in the second national language in order to be eligible for
promotion. However, in the few cases where this is observed, there is
doubt as to whether the required benchmark is sufficient to ensure
that officers can communicate to a high standard. Obviously, a high
degree of competence in a language is required to obtain information
that could be considered useful or even valid.

Language should not be a barrier between the police and the public. If
a Tamil person who only speaks Tamil is under suspicion or arrested in
Colombo by a Sinhalese police officer who speaks only Sinhala and is
interrogated in a language he does not speak or understand, what will
be the outcome? Clearly, the police would not be in a position to
obtain information and the rights of the citizen would also be
violated. He or she may not even know for what reason s/he has been
taken into custody. Unfortunately, such occurrences are taking place.
Among a string of other violations, language is a leading factor in
undermining the confidence the people have in the police. This is an
urgent issue that needs to be addressed by just one key institution.
The problem is widespread in the public service and includes the
country's courts, hospitals, schools, local government offices,
registrar's offices and others. It is an endemic problem that hinders
the ability of people who do not speak the majority language to live
their lives.

Tamil citizens have been pointing this problem out for many years,
though the implications are now becoming far graver than in the recent
past. Even in an area such as Wellawatta in Colombo which is inhabited
predominantly by Tamil people, there is limited capacity to take a
statement in the Tamil language as there are only two or three Tamil
officers to deal with that area.

The Establishment of a Translations Service

There is a very effective and practical solution to this problem which
is in place in many countries. This is through the establishment of a
translation service. Such a service would employ a pool of
professional interpreters who are fluent in both official languages.
Whenever needed, they would be called to act as intermediaries between
the police officers, witnesses, suspects or complainants. Such a
service would enable clear, accurate and effective communication
between the police and the public. It would allow the police to
operate more efficiently and it would also safeguard the rights of the
linguistic minority. This would be a demonstration of the commitment
of the government to all of its citizens.

Historically, the language issue along with standardisation were
decisive factors in the rise of militancy and the escalation of the
ethnic conflict into civil war. The fact that since the 1980's  there
has been a policy enshrined in the Constitution of the country to
address the language rights of the Tamil speaking people that has not
been implemented reflects a failure to address one of the causes of
the civil war as well as a burning issue of ethnic identity – the
right of an individual to speak the language of his or her birth in
his/her country of birth.

Many people dismiss this issue claiming that Tamil people should learn
Sinhala because it is the majority language. Some others are of the
opinion  that since most Tamil people speak Sinhala ,it is not an
issue at all. However, such people fail to realise that there are a
vast number of Tamil people who are citizens of this country who do
not speak Sinhala. They also ignore several other important facts –
firstly, that under the country's Constitution, Tamil is recognised as
an Official Language and secondly, that the State has a duty to ensure
the rights and dignity of its citizens, whether they be the majority
or the minority.

Another issue of contention is the language of administration in the
North and East. Actually, much of the administration in the East is
carried out in Sinhala with drastic implications for the Tamil people
who are even less likely to speak Sinhala than those outside the North
and East. But this issue is not about putting one language ahead of
another, as many narrow minded people all too quickly point out. The
need of the hour is to implement the bi-lingual policy of the country
that recognises that Sinhala and Tamil are both the official languages
of the country and as such, both should be recognised in the public
institutions in all parts of the country. This means that there must
be Sinhala capacity in the North and East as well as Tamil capacity in
all other parts of the country, in addition to Sinhala in all of the
public institutions. This is a right of the citizens of the country
that is being neglected.

It is clear that for the implementation of linguistic rights to be
realised, there is a need for more than political pronouncements and
promises. Under Article 22 of the Constitution, the former President
had directed 29 Divisional Secretariats to use both Sinhala and Tamil
as the languages of administration. These were identified as areas
where two languages capacity was urgently required. Recently this
number was increased as a result of recommendations made by the
Official Languages Commission. However, even in these 29 divisions,
the Official Languages Policy has not been implemented.

There needs to be a change in the mindset of the people of the
country, including the political elite that would show a genuine
commitment to respect diversity. The people of the country need to
move beyond suspicion based on ethnic or religious differences and
work together to reform and transform a society that is riddled with
corruption, poverty, violence and indignity into a just society with a
common future. It is not only the politicians and public servants who
have a responsibility to ensure this transformation, but also the
citizens of the country.

One million signatures

On March 14th, the Foundation for Co-Existence plans to launch a
petition with the aim of collecting at least 1 million signatures.

This petition will call for the implementation of the Official
Languages Policy and the immediate establishment of a translation
service in the police stations as well as other public institutions.
Many people in this country are ready to stand together despite
ethnic, religious and cultural differences and to speak out against
injustice. We can only hope that the government is willing to listen.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=8788

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