Transactions with State
There is little argument
that the language issue was one of the key elements that led to
the alienation of communities and the subsequent ethnic strife.
The problem was exacerbated by politicians who rode to power on
the language issue. Later after wisdom having dawned on them we
now have Tamil too declared as an official language.
However, even decades after its enactment into law the
Official Languages Act is still not being properly implemented.
Nay, it is not implemented at all in most of our State
institutions that transact business with the public. As a result
today the Tamil community particularly those with little
education are at a severe disadvantage unable to communicate
with State authorities to get their matters attended to.
This was more glaringly evident during the recent past during
the height of terrorist problem when Tamils had to report to the
Police to obtain security clearance. It was often found that
some of these Tamils who had arrived in Colombo from the North
were unable to provide proper explanations due to the
communication gap as a result of the absence of Police officers
with a knowledge of Tamil. There were also instances where
confessions by Tamil suspects were wrongly recorded by the
Police due to this language barrier.
It is in this context that an order issued by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa to State officials to ensure facilities to the
public to use their own language in official transactions in
Government Departments bear relevance. Addressing State
officials and politicians during an Eastern Province review
meeting in Trincomalee the President said language should not be
a barrier to the public when seeking assistance from Government
authorities. He said it was brought to his notice that the
language barrier was prevalent in the East where all three
communities live in equal proportion. Significantly he had
recommended to the Police to make appropriate facilities at
relevant stations in both Sinhala and Tamil and to deploy
officers accordingly.
The President no doubt is well aware that the most serious
problems due to the language barrier crops up at Police stations
and the Police are the least equipped in this area due to the
woeful lack of Tamil speaking officers. The tense security
situation no doubt saw a decline in the recruitment of Tamil
speaking officers. On the other hand the threat issued on
prospective Tamil recruits against joining the Police by the
LTTE also saw a gradual diminution of Tamils in the ranks of the
Police Department.
Now that this threat is no more and the security risk
non-existent it is hoped that the authorities will increase the
intake of the Tamils to the Police Department. One should not
forget that the country's Police service was well served by
Tamil Police officers in the past some of them even going to
adorn the office of Inspector General of Police. Hopefully there
will be a revisit to the past in the not too distant future,
when our Police Department will be truly multi-ethnic and
multi-religious in line with the President's vision of a society
devoid of ethnicity.
Not just the Police Department the language barrier is also
prominently evident in the estates where the plantation
community already backward in education and literacy are at a
great disadvantage due to lack of Tamil officers or Sinhala
personnel with a knowledge of Tamil. True, the Government has
launched a language proficiency scheme for public servants as a
criteria for promotions and career advancement. There is no
indication to what level this has progressed. But until such
time this bears full results temporary measures at least should
be put in place to deal with the situation.
Now that the East is fully back to normal and the
administrative machinery in full swing the people should be made
to transact their business without impediments such as language
barriers. With distribution of lands in the North and East to be
regularized there is bound to be a lot of official red tape and
the people will need explaining to in their own language on the
nitty gritty relating to the issues involved. Thus the need to
speed up the process of recruiting and training from among the
public service, persons with the necessary competence to address
these issues.
A language is after all a simple means of communication and
it should remain thus. It should not be a tool of oppression or
in the case of English, an ornament to some to assume a
superiority complex or display literary flourishes. This should
be the cardinal principle governing our language policy. |