By W. T. J. S. Kaviratne,Ambalangoda special corr.
Language plays a crucial role in the promotion of ethnic harmony among communities.
The pluralistic society of Sri Lanka is comprised of different ethnic and religious communities and the individual members of every community should be encouraged to learn the language of each other. Now a days the interaction between the Sinhalese and the Tamils is minimum due to the language barrier. Though English is the link language, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, the Tamil community is the second largest community living in Sri Lanka. The ethic crisis would not have developed to the present magnitude if both the Sinhalese and Tamils were encouraged to learn each other's language. Unfortunately, the trust and confidence between the Sinhalese and the Tamils eroded due to many political mistakes over the years.