Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated June 16, 1956: Language Bill passed

Ceylon's House of Representatives on June 15 passed a Government Bill to declare Sinhalese the sole State language, turning down in effect the claim of Tamil for official recognition. The voting at the end of a marathon 14-hour session, which ended at 6 a.m. on June 15, was 66 in favour and 29 against. Winding up the debate, the Prime Minister, Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, told the House that while retaining the main principle of the Bill, the Government would be prepared to meet the defects with regard to any other matter. "Let us all discuss around a table the practical difficulties that may arise not merely in the implementation of the Bill as it stands but the practical difficulties that arise beyond that." The Bill, the most controversial piece of legislation ever introduced in independent Ceylon's Parliament, evoked greater popular interest than any single political event in the island's recent history. It led to clashes between the protagonists of "Sinhalese only" as the official language and the Tamil-speaking people during the seven days since June 6 when the House debated the Bill and the country was in the grip of extreme tension. The House of Representatives itself was barricaded. Public galleries were closed and approaches to the House sealed off to normal traffic.

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