The UNP attempts to reverse nationalistic measure. The agreement is signed between Dudley Senanayake and S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, pledging to make Tamil the language of administration and courts in the North East, establish District Councils and give priority to Tamils when granting land in resettlement schemes in the North East.
Source
Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka, Neil DeVotta (2004), Stanford University Press.
Text of the agreement between Dudley Senanayake and S.J.V. Chelvanayakam (1965)
Mr Dudley Senanayake (UNP) and Mr S.J.V. Chelvanayakam (Federal Party) met on the 24.3.1965 and discussed matters relating to some problems over which the Tamil-speaking people were concerned, and Mr Senanayake agreed that action on the following lines would be taken by him to ensure a stable Government.
1. Action will be taken early under the Tamil Language Special Provisions Act to make provisions for the use of Tamil as the language of administration and of record in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
2. Mr Senanayake stated that it was the policy of his Party to amend the Language of the Courts Act to provide for legal proceedings in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to be conducted and recorded in Tamil.
3. Action will be taken to establish District Councils in Ceylon vested with powers over the subjects to be mutually agreed upon between the two leaders. It was agreed, however, that the Government should have power under the law to give directions to such Councils in the national interest.
4. The Lank Development Ordinance will be amended. Mr Senanayake further agreed that in the granting of land under colonization schemes the following priorities be observed in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
(a) Land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces should be in the first instance be granted to landless persons in the District.
(b) Secondly – to Tamil-speaking persons resident in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and
(c) Thirdly – to other citizens in Ceylon, preference being given to Tamil citizens in the rest of the Island.
Sgd/Dudley Senanayake 24.3.1965
Sgd/S.J.V.Chelvanayakam 24.3.1965
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