[lg policy] Sri Lanka: Rights activists call for dual language policy

[Harold Schiffman]

Rights activists call for dual language policy
Thursday, 19 May 2011 00:29

Religious leaders and civic rights activists met in Colombo yesterday
to see how best they could resolve the language problem that had led
to the civil war in Sri Lanka. Christian and Hindu priests and
Northern rights activists met National Languages Minister Vasudeva
Nanayakkara to discuss the problems and challenges faced by
Tamil-speaking people in relation to the official language policy.’

The Sri Lankan constitution lays down that Sinhala and Tamil should be
the official and administrative languages with English as the link
language but the non implementation of this policy had led to several
riots since 1958 and ended up with the 30-year conflict.

“A correct vision and courage is the only way for reconciliation and
social integration between Sinhalese and Tamils,” the religious
leaders pointed out. Jaffna University Professor P. Balasundarampillai
urged the minister to restore a Tamil language department at the
Colombo University to enable Sinhala students to learn the Tamil
language.

Rev. Father Saveri Mariathasan a Catholic Priest from the Mannar
diocese said, “Sinhala church leaders act to solve the Tamil language
problems.”  The participants discussed the setting up of language
courses for students pursuing higher education; opening the language
laboratory and the official languages department library to anyone
interested in learning languages

http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/news/44390.html

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal,
and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.
 A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman,
Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list