Was Tamil recently introduced as the language of courts and administration in North & East? Find out the truth…

දිනපතා සත්‍ය කරුණු දැන ගැනීමට අපගේ WhatsApp සමුහයටමෙතනින් එකතුවන්න.

Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation where several ethnoreligious groups have been co-existing for centuries. However, this co-existence has been threatened at times, none more prominent than the 30-year ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups, which significantly halted the progress of the country.

Amidst efforts to rebuild and reconcile, misleading social media posts still get shared, mainly targeting sensitive issues such as the national language policy. Our investigation focuses on unravelling the origins behind these misconceptions, aiming to foster a more informed public discourse.

Social Media Posts 

A series of social media posts implied that the Sri Lankan government had recently decided that Tamil would be the official language used in administration and court procedures in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Facebook | Archived FB

This image was especially viral among WhatsApp users.

Our investigation found that the above information is misleading, and the viral excerpt relates to the 16th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution in 1988.

Fact Check:

Let’s explore the facts in detail using the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Chapter IV (Articles 18-25) of the Constitution contains a clear set of language provisions.

Chapter IV of Sri Lanka`s Constitution 

According to Chapter IV, Article 18(1) and (2) of Sri Lanka’s constitution, Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka. (After the 13th Amendment in 1987, where Tamil had also been included as an official language)

Article 19 also states that Sinhala and Tamil are also the national languages of Sri Lanka, which has remained the same from the original constitution of Sri Lanka (1978)

Articles 22, 23 and 24 relate to the languages for administration and court procedures, which are being questioned by the social media posts.

16th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka (1988)

Changes to Articles 22, 23 and 24 occurred in the 16th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution in 1988.

Chapter IV: Article 22 

Article 22 states that Sinhala and Tamil shall be the languages of administration throughout Sri Lanka. It also states that the administrative language of all provinces of Sri Lanka should be Sinhala, except that of the Northern and Eastern provinces, where Tamil language shall be used for the maintenance of public records and other activist by government institutions.

Chapter IV: Article 23

According to Article 23(1), all laws and subordinate laws shall be made in both the Sinhala and Tamil languages, accompanied by a translation in English.

Chapter IV: Article 24

According to Article 24(1), the languages of courts throughout Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil, and Sinhala shall be used as the language of the courts situated in all the areas of Sri Lanka, except in certain regions where Tamil is the language of administration. 

Therefore, according to the 1987 & 1988 amendments to the constitution in Sri Lanka, it is clear that Sinhala and Tamil are used equally as the official and national languages. 

Sinhala and Tamil are also used as administrative, legislative, and judicial languages in Sri Lanka, and English is used as a link language. The decision to use Tamil language in Northern and Eastern provinces for administrative activities by government institutions and as the language of the courts was made 35 years ago through the amendments to Sri Lanka’s constitution in 1988.

Confirmation from the National Language Division Secretary:

We contacted Mr Anuradha Wijekoon, the Secretary of the National Language Division of the Ministry of Public Administration, who explicitly stated that there had been no recent changes to the language provisions in the constitution mentioned above. The administration and judicial activities in the North and East provinces have been conducted in Tamil for decades, aligning with the existing constitutional provisions.

Source of Viral Placard:

The image circulating on social media, featuring a placard advocating for Tamil language rights, is associated with the National Languages Equality Advancement Project (NLEAP). NLEAP is a Canadian-funded initiative aimed at supporting the implementation of the Sri Lankan Official Languages Policy, and the content displayed in the pennant for awareness purposes was at one of NLEAP’s events and does not represent a recent change in Sri Lanka's language policy.

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Conclusion:

Contrary to recent claims, there has been no recent decision by the Sri Lankan government to change the language of administration and courts in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The constitutional provisions amended in 1987 and 88, related to the official languages in Sri Lanka, have been in place for decades.

Misleading claims, especially about the omission of Sinhala / Tamil languages in prominent signboards, have been shared in the past as well, and one such fact check can be reached here.

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