Sinhala Only Act
The Act symbolizes the post-independent Sinhalese majority's determination to assert Ceylon's identity as a Sinhala Buddhist nation state, and for Tamils, it became a symbol of minority oppression and a justification for them to demand a separate nation-state, Tamil Eelam, which was a factor in the emergence of the decades-long Sri Lankan Civil War.
[4][5] Thus, English-speaking Tamils held a higher percentage of coveted Ceylon Civil Service jobs, which required English fluency, than their share of the island's population.
After their election to the State Council of Ceylon in 1936, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) members N. M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena demanded the replacement of English as the official language by Sinhala and Tamil.
[citation needed] Ceylon was granted the status of dominion in the British Empire in 1948 after largely non-violent independence movement, with the transition of sovereignty from Britain to the Sri Lankans being a peaceful process.
The result was a landslide electoral victory for the SLFP lead coalition Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, which paved the way for Bandaranaike's appointment as Prime Minister.
When Bandaranaike proceed to make Sinhala the official state language with administrative provisions for Tamil, K. M. P. Rajaratne and Professor J. E. Jayasuriya went on a fast unto death demanded legislation be drafted to make Sinhala the only official state with no concessions to Tamil language.
This forced Bandaranaike to drop the administrative provisions for Tamil and The Ceylon (Constitution) Order in Council or Sinhala Only Bill as it was known was passed through parliament and was enacted.
[19] Although the regulations for implementing the bill were approved in January 1966 under Dudley Senanayake, it would be relegated to a "subordinate legislation" with the adoption of the Republican Constitution in 1972 under Mrs Bandaranaike which consolidated the 'Sinhala-only' policy, thus affirming the subordinate status of the Tamil language:[18]"the Tamils felt indignant that it was specifically stated in the constitution that the provisions relating to the Tamil language could be amended by ordinary legislation whereas the provisions relating to the Sinhalese were constitutionally entrenched.
[20] As a Sinhalese academic A. M. Navaratna Bandara writes: "The Tamil-speaking people were given no option but to learn the language of the majority if they wanted to get public service employment.
"[23] For much of the 1960s government forms and services were virtually unavailable to Tamils, and this situation only partly improved with later relaxations of the law.
