Sinhala Only Bill

The significant change in the history of Sri Lanka was the implementation of the Sinhala Only Bill in 1956. This act or bill was passed to recognize and declare Sinhala the official language of the country. As per the ratio in the population, 70% are Sinhalese and 29% were Tamils of different origins. The passing of this bill earmarked a big transformation of the population and also sparked outrages from different communities. In this article, we will study how this act was framed and billed in 1956.

Sinhala Only Act 1956

As mentioned earlier, Sinhalese were spoken by 70% of the entire population of the island country of Sri Lanka. The rest of the 29% of the population were Tamils of Indian and Sri Lankan origin and Moors. They spoke Tamil as their mother tongue whereas the rest of the population spoke Sinhalese.

The Official Language Act No. 33 1956 or Sinhala Only Act was raised in the Parliament of Ceylon and was passed by the nod of the majority of the members. Previously, the official language was English. It was replaced by the native language used by the Sri Lankan majority or Sinhalese.

Due to this change in the official language, the minority groups or Tamils felt that they were being targeted and cornered. It is also being considered that this act is quite controversial and biased for the minorities living in this country.

The entire community had just gained its independence from the Colonial Rule on 4th February 1948. It was a historic day that led to the foundation of a parliament of members in this independent state. The 1956 Act in Sri Lanka was passed by this parliament to replace English as the official language with Sinhalese, the most spoken native language of the country.

The enactment of Sinhalese the official language became one of the prime reasons for an unresolved unrest among the different language users. The minorities thought this act was nothing but a symbol of oppression to them. It resulted in the uprising of Tamil Eelam, a major factor that resulted in the decades-long Civil War in Sri Lanka. It was then called Ceylon. The name Sri Lanka emerged after 1972.

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The Effect of British Rule

The colonial rule of Great Britain impeded the development of the people. The rulers passed the Free Education Bill in 1944 setting English as the prime language for education. Only the elites were able to study and learn this language whereas the commoners were devoid of this development.

Tamils enjoyed studying this language in the English schools set in the northern part of this island country. This resulted in the development of this community where people got excellent civil service jobs given by the then British Government of Ceylon. In 1944, J R Jayawardene demanded the removal and replacement of English with Ceylonese or Sinhalese.

Due to the independence of India, the Ceylonese did not have to struggle to free their country from the shackles of the Imperial rule of Britain. The movement was nonviolent and the British accepted it as an independent state in 1948.

A parliament was set with the new government and its representatives. In its sessions in 1956, the matter of the official language was again raised. It resulted in the formation and implementation of the Sinhala Only Bill in 1956. After the election was over, The Ceylon Constitution introduced and enacted this bill making Ceylonese or Sinhalese as the official language of the country.

As mentioned earlier, the elite Tamils of North did not take it as a welcoming move. They rather thought that it was a demeaning step taken by the majority government and opposed it bitterly. They demanded that both Tamil and Sinhalese should be considered as the state languages with parity across the country. This language bill became a serious issue where the country got virtually divided into two halves. The northern part was dominated by the elite English-speaking Tamils whereas the southern part of the country showed support to passing the bill.

Eventually, the bill was passed and Tamils started responding by performing Satyagrahas. All these protests were peacefully held outside the Parliament building of Sri Lanka. A mob once broke the peace and resulted in a huge riot killing more than 150 Tamils protesting outside the Parliament.

Partial Reversal of Sinhala Only Act in 1958

A part of the clauses mentioned in this act was reversed and included the punch line ‘Sinhala Only Tamil Also’ to show the compromise the government made to the Tamil leaders. In this reversal, Tamil was considered as the official language for various state-related examinations, admissions, and recruitments of public services in the northern and eastern states/provinces of the country. The 1956 Act in Sri Lanka was then brought into effect with such changes in 1960 when the left leaders won the elections with an overwhelming response from the natives.

The Effect of The Sinhala Only Act 1956

The policy or the act turned out discriminatory to 29% of the population or the minorities. The Tamils wanted to include their language into the Constitution and demonstrated it continuously. This led to the partial reversal of the act and resulted in the quotas of the administrative services for Tamils. Eventually, the percentage of quota seats almost vanished for the Tamils in the 1970s resulting in more frictions. Since then, many amendments are done to this law but Sinhalese the official language exists with Tamil in the Constitution.