Up Country Tamils: Charting a New Future in Sri Lanka Language as a Barrier “I was explaining my issues in Tamil, then the police asked me something in Sinhala. I did not understand. I think they scolded me then. I could figure that out from the policemen’s facial expressions and when they raised the tone of the voice” – Mother, whose son disappeared in 2008, Hatton. Not all plantation Tamils can speak the Sinhala language fluently. Some women can only handle basic communication, and therefore are not in a position to explain their issues in detail when making an official complaint. There are also women who do not have any grasp of Sinhala. According to my interviews, Upcountry Tamil women faced language issues in police stations more often than in other state institutions. “I was explaining my issues in Tamil and the policeman who was taking down my complaint answered the phone instead and was talking on the phone for so long … I was confused. I am sure that he did not understand what I was telling him and also he did not want to give importance to my issue” – Woman from Nuwara Eliya, whose relative is a policeman who disappeared in 1990 in Batticaloa. Lack of Support from Civil Society Organisations There are rights-based civil society organisations, such as the Human Development Organization (HDO), Institute of Social Development (ISD), and Red Flag Women’s Movement (RFWM), in the plantation area. Organisations working in the plantation sector tend to focus on economic, social, and cultural issues such 64