Sri Lanka’s trilingual law, Mandarin and Tamil language

COLOMBO: Lawyer Thishya Weragoda has questioned the Attorney General’s Department for disregarding the language rights set out in the constitution in a plaque ceremoniously unveiled at the new Building of the Attorney General’s Department, newswire.lk reported.

Mandarin has replaced the official Tamil language in the plaque which was unveiled on May 19.

The plaque was about an electronic library funded by the Chinese government at the Attorney General’s Department, newswire.lk reported.

Responding to social media criticism, the Chinese Embassy tweeted: “It’s an internal E-Library in the AG’s Department, funded by the government and People of China. Chinese language is diplayed as a kind gesture towards China, which is highly appreciated.”

It was only last week the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka had called on a Chinese firm operating in the country to abide by the trilingual law of Sri Lanka after MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had raised concerns over Chinese firms in Sri Lanka disregarding the official languages of the country when setting up name boards.