Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

21 June 2021

 

 

LANGUAGE OF COLOMBO PORT CITY

 

As per the observations and interpretations of many in the Tamil Diaspora, India is trying to politically influence Sri Lankan government to implement the 13^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution . The two main changes in that amendment  relate to Language parity and devolution of power to the Provinces. Both, when genuinely practiced, would make Sri Lanka more democratic. Given that India lost credibility due to LTTE eliminating Rajiv Gandhi, the value of 13^th Amendment Energy is expected to be high for Indians. The indifference to this is not observed in the Sri Lankan government alone but also in the Provincial Councils of Northern & Eastern Sri Lanka, where majority are Tamils.

 

As per  Ceylon Today article ‘English Medium Primary Education Plan Shelved’ :

[The Ministry of Education has temporarily halted implementing the programme to provide English medium instructions to students in the primary Grades up to Advanced Level, as it requires a Constitutional amendment.

The plan will not be implemented in the near future, said Dr. Upali Sedara, Secretary to the State Ministry of Education Reforms, Open Universities, and Distance Learning Promotion. He explained that according to the Constitution, primary education should only be provided in the two State languages, Sinhala and Tamil.]

This means that in essence, the Colombo Port City workers have to use Tamil, English or Sinhalese in communicating while they work in Sri Lanka. Indians of course have Tamil as a common language. This is how the 13^th Amendment is working to prevent intrusion by foreigners. Recently, Jonathan Swan of Axios was reported to have highlighted alleged Genocide as follows:

[ @jonathanvswan presses Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on why he’s outspoken against Islamophobia in the West but silent about the genocide of Muslim Uyghurs in western China.]

Interestingly, on 17 March 2005, BBC reported as follows, under the heading ‘Divisions over tsunami new town’:

[The new town - Siri Bapora - is designed to house the residents of Hambantota, which has a 90% Muslim majority - and was one of the places hardest hit in the disaster, with more than 4,500 people killed.

The government plans to rehouse over 5,000 Sinhalese Buddhists from villages outside of the Hambantota area, whose homes were also destroyed, at the new site.

But residents are concerned that mixing communities of different religions and cultures will only cause problems.

"Muslim people are up at about five in the morning for the prayers, they are announced on the mic - so that will be a disturbance for these people," Mr Khalid, one of the Hambantota Muslims affected by the tsunami, told BBC World Service's Reporting Religion programme.]

 

The essence of the above has been confirmed also Shalini Mariyathas, Nihal Perera, and Mohamed Yehiya  - through their article - What Development Has Done to a Town: Lessons from Hambantota, Sri Lanka, published by Bhúmi, The Planning Research Journal (Special Issue on Development) Vol. 05, No. 01

The question that my mind asks is whether the above resettlement  was all planned and consciously or subconsciously and if yes, whether this had contributed strongly to the Easter Bombings by a community that sought revenge. When our pain is strong and has the potential to damage our belief – such revenge actions would cause exponential damage. That is also why the effects of 1983 pogrom in Colombo and other areas spread to India.

Unless the Rajapaksa mind is strongly protected by Sri Lankan sovereignty, China’s alienation  of Muslim community would tend to affect their thoughts on the Easter Bombings and are likely to overly punish Muslims.

One who feels the sovereignty of the nation would be unaffected by such foreign interference. The language provision in the constitution promotes sovereignty of all those respect both national  languages on Equal footing and English as the link language not only within but beyond Sri Lanka’ shores to invoke global powers.