Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena says expediting the implementation of Official Language Policy will enhance cohesion in the multi-lingual Sri Lankan society.

Addressing an event in Colombo, the prime minister urged all relevant institutions and departments to take effective steps to this end.

These remarks were made during the Symposium of National Languages Equality Advancement Project (NLEAP) on Monday (July 10).

Speaking further, Gunawardena said the cohesion of any nation with different communities depends largely on the ability to communicate with each other.

Language is an inalienable right of the people and communication rights involve freedom of opinion and expression, participation in one’s own culture, linguistic rights, rights to education, privacy and assembly, he added.

“If I may recap, I’m in Galle Face Hotel today, and one year ago just outside this place at Galle Face Greens, there was anarchy. Let me recall, under President Ranil Wickremesinghe, we have been able to restore law and order in the country with the support of the people. And also restore economic stability,” the prime minister opined.

Gunawardena also expressed gratitude to the Canadian government for the financial support extended to the NLEAP Project and thanked High Commissioner Eric Walsh for his support to extend the project to help Sri Lanka to achieve its objective of equal advancement in national language usage.

He said the objective of the Official Languages Policy of Sri Lanka is to enhance acceptance by Sri Lankan women and men of the cultural diversity in the country.

“Overcoming communication barriers also help for speedy economic development and ensuring uniformity in development. That in turn helps to reduce poverty and improve economic and social equality of Sinhala and Tamil-speaking women and men throughout Sri Lanka,” he said.

Director of National Languages Equality Advancement Project, Michael Emblem said the NLEAP project has served as a forum for academics, students and professionals to focus on specific challenges relating to the multilingual nature of Sri Lanka and gender-based barriers and to find solutions to them.

Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh said Canada, as a bilingual nation has shared its experiences with Sri Lanka through NEALP project.