Ven. Dr.Bellanwila Wimalaratana
A leading Buddhist monk has claimed that Tamils have had to face numerous difficulties as they have not been able to use their mother tongue as desired. The Ven. Dr.Bellanwila Wimalaratana Nayaka thera said that it is high time that the Tamil language be given due recognition.
The Venerable Dr Bellanwila Wimalaratana thera, the Viharadhipathi of the Bellanwila Raja MahaVihara who is also the Vice chancellor of the Sri Jayawardanapura University was giving evidence at the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation.
Unjust
“We must sincerely admit that Tamils have been unjustly treated on language issue” said Dr Wimalaratna thera.
The prelate said that although Tamil is accepted as an official language even today many Tamils are deprived of using Tamil when conducting business. The Ven.Wimalaratna pointed out that fair language use would help promote the concept of Sri Lanka citizenship among Tamils.
Referring to the past, the prelate said that it is not correct to blame the Language policy of 1956 which promoted Sinhala, for the current lapse of giving due recognition to the Tamil Language. “Accepting Sinhala as the state language is not the issue, that was a necessity, but Tamil should have been given due recognition” said Venerable Dr Bellanwila Wimalaratana
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2010/09/100924_bellanwila.shtml
