Question

How and when was sinhala recognized as a official language of sri Lanka

Answer 1

In 1956,an act was passed to recognise sinhala as the only official language.

Answer 2

Answer:

   The democratically elected govt in Sri Lanka enacted an act in  the year 1956 to replace the English language with the language of the Sinhala. The "Sinhala Only  Act" was passed in the year 1956 by the "Parliament of Ceylon" which is now Sri Lanka.

   Then, Sinhala was the language of Ceylon's majority Sinhalese people, who accounted for around 70 per cent nation's populace. Following the policy of majoritarianism, the Sri Lankan govt that came to power after Sri Lanka's independence gave prominence to Sinhalese and made Sinhala the official language of Sri Lanka

   However, this was opposed by the Sri Lankan Tamil who felt that were being discriminated,  being among other measures that was introduced by the Sri Lanka govt to give prominence to Sinhalese.

   The Act symbolised the "self-determination" of the after-independent Sinhalese majority to affirm Ceylon 's identity as a "nation state". However, for the minority Tamils it symbolised minority oppression & a justification for demanding a nation state, that is, the "Tamil Eelam" - the factor that contributed to the development of the decades of civil war in Sri Lanka

Explanation: