SLMC ignores official language policy

Dr. Michael Fernando, former Director of the National Integration Program Unit (NIPU) has sent us the following story on how the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) is implementing the National Language Policy:

Yesterday, July 14, 2009 a young doctor son of an Emeritus Professor, University of Jaffna has submitted his Marriage Certificate to the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) for the purpose of getting his wife's name on the document of the Council and of the Department of Health.

At the office of the Registrar of the Medical Council, the certificate had been rejected point blank because it was in Tamil.

The young doctor has explained to the authorities that this is an official document and he has no right to make any changes and also explained that they cannot reject it because it is issued in one of the official languages of Sri Lanka. The authorities had vehemently rejected his appeal and said that they accept certificates written in Sinhala and English only.

The poor young man had to spent Rs. 700 to go to Dehiwela to get the certificate translated and then go back to the hospital that is situated about 20 km from Sri Lanka Medical Council Office.

Paradoxically the young man has had with him a Tamil newspaper that has published a statement by the Chairman of Official Languages Commission giving the details of the State Language Policy.

The father of the young doctor who had to face this illegal and ugly incident is a person who had decided his life to assist the State to implement the Official Languages Policy. He has written several text books and I was the Director of National Integration Program Unit (NIPU) (till June 30, 2009) got him to prepare audio teaching material to teach Tamil in Sinhala. Today when I called him for an important matter the depressed professor narrated this story to me.

After 22 years of making Tamil an Official Language in this country, this is the way the policy is being implemented. Is it ignorance, foolishness or something else?