3^1 occupies "the interface between policy and implementation.”

Implementation involves a process of blending policy with

social change as an element in a strategy for development. This aspect of the study shall receive a deeper analysis at a later stage. It is necessary, however, to complete these conclusions by examining the second component of the equation — the social change - that had resulted out of the colonial education policy, the first component

being the laws and legal institutions which were available to the State for the purposes of legitimising its policy. The progress of the various educational policies for Sri Lanka since the beginning of the 19th Century had resulted in the formation of a particular type of society which was best suited for a colonial type of Administration. With the advent of Independence the p e o p l e ’s demand for

increased popular participation in the creation of the new society which was promised, was found to be impeded principally w i t h a language barrier resulting in a very definite gap between a small powerful elite at the

centre of political power and a large powerless mass at the periphery. Xt is this factor which compelled the legislature to breakdown the language barrier, so that popular participation of the masses became possible.

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The language change must, therefore, be viewed, as the commencement of a particular type of social movement, progressively moving towards the creation of a new

society with new social dimensions; admittedly creating a new and a different type of elite in its own particular way. It is not difficult to assume that the change from

dependence to independence, must, if that is to he meaningful, bring about an attitudinal change internal­ ising the political and legal changes which Independence brings about. This attitudinal change must necessarily alter the social dimensions from being manipulated from without to being controlled from within. It is this

that calls for the need to facilitate popular participa­ tion after an era of ’agency r u l e ’. Commencing from the colonial Governor right down to the most menial Government functionary, the role they play as an ’agent* of a

source of unrepresentative power located outside, is a necessary hallmark of ’agency rule'. The de-stabilisation

of this paradigm initially, and its replacement ultimately b y a paradigm drawing in the masses from the periphery of

the society and towards the centre of political power, may be considered as a meaningful element in the movement of any colonial society towards Independence. In some societies this process could commence at a point earlier in time than the actual date of legal Independence. The

* 3 4 3

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Dominion of Canada, New Zealand and Australia may be typical examples. For, by the time the Statute

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of Westminster re-defined and re-established their relationship .with the Westminster Parliament, in 1931* these countries have had some considerable time to

de-stabilise the initial ’agency-rule’ model in favour of developing an internal system model of government. In Ceylon, h o w e v e r , the point of Independence, in 19^-8,

marked the commencement of the process of de-stabilisation of the colonial model of 'agency-rule*. The principal road block which the Island exj^erienced during the early years of Independence, was the language barrier, separating the masses on the periphery from a small but powerful elite at the centre of political power.

In this context the first eight years of Independence could be considered as wasted years for development and change; fox’ by maintaining the barriers which separated the nation the resulting 1 agency r u l e 1 of Government appears to have persisted. Like the colonial Administration, the Governments of Ceylon between 19^8-1956 were compelled to carry out an

’agency-rule1 model. By 1956, it was recognised that a break from this model was necessary and to do so

it was necessary to change the language of administration, from English to Sinhala. The choice of ’Sinhala' as the official language was determined by the fact that nearly 70 percent of the population spoke that language. It was believed that such a change would render the

’agency-model* redundant. It was also believed that the demotion of English to a tertiary if not secondary role could, by the passage of time, alter the social

formations and elitism which had come down from colonial times. The General Elections of 1956 were fought on the language issue and the victory of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which formed the Government as a result, had a firm commitment to change the I s l a n d ’s language of administration from English to Sinhala. The next chapter will deal with this event.

C HAPTER 4

Language and Development

X . A n I nt ro d uc t i o n

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A l t ho u gh views recently expressed have traced the sources for the language problem into the 1 5 th Century, the immediate causes ('or the problem could 2 be found four centuries later, In the 1 9 th Century, Two d istinct but inter-dependent sources of discontent could be r e a d il y identified as the principal reasons for the language problem; n amely education and

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religion. E a ch of these have previously b een discussed w i t h in the context of the B r itish Colonial p o licy towards them. B y a b an do n in g education to the m i s s io na ry enter— prise and by their attitude towards Buddhism, the r e li g io n of a v e ry significant major it y of the native popul a ti on on the Island, the British Admin is tr at io n in C e yl on had set in m o ti o n a process w hi c h inevitably resulted in the p ol ar is a ti o n of the religious forces on the Island. The fact that the missi o na ry enterprise h ad resul te d in the form a ti on of a small national elite, whose ideological and intellectual f ramework was carved

out of Christianity, W e st er n civilization and a pro- British political policy, e v entually resulted in g en e ra ti ng its own opposition. This opposition came ,;from a massive pro-nationalist, Sinhala educated,

Buddhist, group which, in time became more and more

dete rm in ed to n eutralise the strength of their adversaries. As a c u lm i na ti on of this process of interplay ef o pposing forces, the Government in 1956, enacted the Official

conflict were marked by such temporary measures as the

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several E d u c at i on and Buddhist Temporalities Acts w hi c h spanned the 19 th and 20 th Centuries leading u l t i ma t e l y to the d e cl ar a t i on of Sinhala in 19 56 as the only Official Language for the Island.

As an event that is central to the Language q ue s t i on in Ceylon was the grant of Independence, in 1 9 ;bS, as an end product of a process of de-colonisation. That event becomes important because the method employed for d e- co l on i sa t i o n of Ceyl on did not involve a change of the socio-political institutions on the Island.

This u n ch a n g ed nature of the socio-political o r g an i sa ­ tions of the Ceylonese society required the r et e nt i o n of a Legal system and a legal tradition w h ic h had

evo.l ved through over one and a half centuries of B ri ti sh rule. Tliis was n e ce s s a r y because the laws and legal institutions in 19^8 stood in complete h ar mo ny w i t h the socio-political compact w h i c h the Island had inherited from B r it is h rule. Further, the Soulb u ry C on s ti tu ti on w hi c h served as a Grun dn or m at Independence legitimised

these Laws and the legal institutions upon which the stability of the Ceylonese society at the time was based. To make this stability a lasting event, the

g

S o u 11)ai■y C o u s t i t u t 1on c a rr 1 r>d a certaLn ntimber of

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entr en ch ed clauses c on ce rn in g certain vital areas of this socio-political compact. These entrenched clauses, as later e v e n t s w e r e to discover, were appa r en t ly

meant to be unalterable u nder the Constitution. This apparent i mm ut ab il it y b y any future society was found by the P rivy Council to have been necessary because they

" ... represent the solemn balance of rights b et w ee n the citizens of Ceylon, the fundamental conditions on wh ich in Lor se they accepted the Constitution; and those are therefore u nalterable un der the C o n s t i t u t i o n . "

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The g r a nt i n g of Independence was not, therefore, meant to be considered as a point of departure from the

social, economic, political or the legal organisations which had served to sustain colonial rule. By 1956, eight years after Independence, the Ceylonese society, however, had radically changed. An important basic a s su m p t io n that appeared to have under gone a change by 1956 was the assumption that E n glish should be co n si de re d as the Official Language of the Island.

There was no prece d i ng law that had declared the English language to be the Official Language of the Island.

Particularly, after the C ol eb r o o ke —Cameron recommendations of I 8 3 3 > where a knowledge of E ng lish was declared to be

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