Letter

Call to rename Colombo

It is very disappointing that the name of our capital city is projected outside the country as a western name bonded to colonialism. It is not surprising the colonial masters adjusted the simple Sinhala name to Colombo to suit their tongue which we all seem to carry on in apparent ignorance.

In stark contrast to the majority of the masses of the country who call the capital in its true Sinhala rhyme Kolomba internationally it is called Colombo as of having an Italian connection.

It is pathetic to note that we Sri Lankan's call it Colombo whenever we switch to English, be it in speech or writing.

Nobody outside Sri Lanka knows the Sinhala origin of the capital's name but does assume that it is related to the country's colonial past. I have met many a person outside Sri Lanka who thought that we were under the Italians as to the reason why our capital is named as Colombo. Colombo is a popular Italian name and there are towns and airports in Italy and elsewhere bearing the name Colombo. There is the popular Colombo detective series we all like.

It is also not helpful for a country that is notorious for violence and drug trafficking, Colombia rhymes close to Colombo. When violence is mentioned in the international media it may take more than a while for somebody to clarify/digest whether it is in Colombia or Colombo.

Many other countries have had the problem of colonial names in the past but have shed them away with their progress and we should not look beyond our neighbour,India who replaced western names like Madras, Bombay, Calcutta with Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively.

It is high time our leaders albeit belatedly come to understand this great wrong to our country and take steps to get rid of a last vestige of colonialism.

We Sri Lankans should be ever grateful to Mrs. Bandaranaike for getting rid of the name Ceylon that called our country in the past. N. Jayasuriya