The implementation of the national languages policy of bilingualism is a crucial goal in the current post-conflict context. This policy strives to bring together all communities with better understanding and closer cooperation, said Minister of National Languages Vasudeva Nanayakkara said.

In order to achieve such a goal, the promotion of “cultural pluralism” is pivotal, which is also a major challenge, the Minister said at a book launch by a Sri Lankan Tamil writer at La Chappelle, Paris, France on July 03.

“In this regard much has to be done to normalize the island. A major step is to bring the communities closer to one another in order to facilitate a better understanding. This has to be done through the implementation of the bilingual national languages policy and ultimately by facilitating communication which gives access to emotions as well as sensitivity” he further noted. The Minister also said that the Government is committed to ensuring diverse communities that their dignity is recognized. The perceived exclusion of certain communities in the social dimension due to the exigencies and the unavoidable byproduct of the conflict needs to be addressed immediately by an intensive social integration.

Minister Nanayakkara highlighted the importance of initiatives taken by Sri Lankans at the state and civic levels in the task of gathering communities around intercultural activities and understanding each other’s languages and cultural life.

Moving on to internal affairs, Minister Nanayakkara pointed out that the current “mode of governance” of the former conflict areas needs to be discussed, debated and reconfigured by means of a higher-level discussion between the Government and the representatives of the communities. Continuous dialogue is therefore needed to arrive at an acceptable solution. Building social infrastructure will prepare people for the ultimate accomplishment which is integration on the basis of equality, not the dominance of any community over any other, he mentioned.

In response to a question raised during the discussion session, Minister Nanayakkara said that he would support the extension of the implementation of the National Languages Policy to Sri Lankans living in France as well. For this purpose, he proposed the establishment of a Sri Lankan Civic Center that will enable trilingual education for children and youth of Sinhala and Tamil origin in France, and thereby help promote multiculturalism and harmonious inter-ethnic relations. He pledged the support of his Ministry through the Sri Lankan Embassy for such a project.

Minister Nanayakkara also handed over Sinhala and Tamil text books to representatives of several Sri Lankan associations in France at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Paris yesterday (July 5th).