Sirisena says no room in the country for conflicts based on languages

President Maithripala Sirisena says the present government will not allow any conflicts to take place in the country based on the languages spoken by the different communities.

The President pointing out that countries across the globe including Sri Lanka have experienced conflicts based on languages, stressed that such unfortunate occurrences need to be eliminated.

Speaking at the All Ceylon Tamil Language Day Awards held at the Dharmaraja College in Kandy, the President said the government has a duty to ensure rights of the people speaking different languages.

He said the language should only be a communication method for humankind and it should not create standards or divisions among the general public. "It is the duty of the government to create an environment conducive to carry out the duties of the public based on their preferred languages," the President said.

The President emphasised that administrative work should be accomplished in all languages, even in the languages spoken by the minorities.

President Sirisena said that there is an international law requiring receiving education in ones mother tongue. The President stressed that physical and human resources will be improved to impart Sinhalese language skills to Tamil and Muslim students and Tamil language skills to Sinhala students.

President Sirisena was the Chief Guest at the All Ceylon Tamil Language Day Awards 2016 held yesterday. The President presented awards to the winning students in the all island competitions at the event arranged by the Ministry of Education.

Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Ministers Rauf Hakeem and Lakshman Kiriella, State Minister of Education V. Radhakrishnan, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake, and Secretary to the Ministry of Education Sunil Hettiarachchi were also present at the occasion.