The Duality of Language : Marking International Mother Language Day
- - on 02/19/2016
Language can simultaneously connect and divide, as Sri Lanka has learned to bitter effect in the past.
The divisiveness could be said to have begun with the Official Language Act of 1956, which saw Sinhala replace English as the official language, and Tamil being shunted aside. This stemmed mostly from the nationalist perspective that Sri Lankan Tamils had a disproportionate share of power in terms of educational opportunities and positions in civic administration.
This, in turn, led to the Tamils feeling alienated. Though Tamil was reintroduced as an official language in a legal amendment in 1987, the damage was already done.
This division has been identified as one of the root causes of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict.
Six years after the war ended, language continues to be a burning issue.
As Sunday (February 21) is International Mother Language Day, Groundviewsfeatures the work of artists and performers who have incorporated the issue of language, and Sri Lanka’s struggle with it, into their work.
Imaad is a writer, poet and musician who curates events like Kacha Kacha, which brings together performers in a variety of languages. It is quite normal for performances to segue between English, Sinhala and Tamil within the space of a short hour.
In 2014, Imaad wrote AntiPoem, which made him want to take a closer look at the Official Language Bill.
