Tamil youths applying for government jobs have raised fresh concerns over systemic language discrimination, after several state institutions issued interview letters and official correspondence solely in Sinhala, despite Tamil being recognised as an official language of Sri Lanka.
A recent applicant to Sri Lanka’s Irrigation Department told local media that he received an interview notice written entirely in Sinhala. “I cannot understand what the letter says, and I don’t know how to prepare for the interview,” he said. He added that he was unsure whether the interview itself would be conducted in Sinhala or Tamil, and that the notice gave him very little time to respond.
His experience is far from isolated. Sources told local reporters that bodies including the Sri Lanka Transport Board, the Department of Archaeology, and the Department of Wildlife continue to send notices and directives exclusively in Sinhala, even to regional offices and residents in the North-East.
The practice, Tamil applicants say, places a structural barrier before young people attempting to access employment in the Sinhala-dominated state. Although Tamil is constitutionally recognised as an official language, its implementation has been repeatedly undermined in favour of Sinhala, reinforcing long-standing inequalities across the Tamil homeland.
Civil society groups have pointed out that issuing Sinhala-only instructions effectively restricts access for Tamil-speaking citizens. For many young Tamil applicants, the latest incidents are a reminder of the entrenched linguistic discrimination that has shaped the Sri Lanka.
