News
‘Ge’ names can be optional, says President in Parliament
View(s):What’s in a name is a question often posed to indicate there isn’t much to a name. But not so it seems. In Sri Lanka, a great deal seems to be riding on one’s name, that President Maithripala Sirisena himself thought it opportune to propose this week in his policy statement to Parliament on Tuesday, that the use of family names or ‘ge’ names as they are known, be made optional and not mandatory, as is the case now in many instances.
The reason for this, the President said, was because he had personally observed that certain sections of people in our society were made to feel awkward when their family names were made known publicly. “The use of family names in a manner that makes a section of our society feel marginalized is an impediment to our path to building a modern Sri Lankan society,” the President said.
Hence, the President proposed that, if the family names are being read out in a public places or, are being included in public registers, the bearer of the name should be given the option of using the full name or the use of the name with the initials. “The necessary laws in this regard will be enacted by my Government,” the President said.
A President’s office spokesman when queried why the President chose to bring up the matter in his first address to the new Parliament, said that the President had received several complaints from people that the use of their “ge’ names had subjected them to embarrassment and placed them in an awkward situation.
“There are places such as court houses, polling booths, marriage registrations etc. when the full family names are read out publicly. In such instances, there are people who feel marginalised,’ the spokesman said.An official of the Registrar General’s Office said that, while it was an important policy statement, so far no proposal has been sought from them as to draw up necessary legislation for the use of ‘ge’ optional in official documentation.
“Such a move could mean amending several pieces of legislation, as right now, the use of full names along with family names is mandatory, if one were to appear in court, or is getting married, getting government jobs, taking oaths or sitting for an exam,” he said.
The President in his address said there would be no hindrance to those who want to use their family name from doing so. “I consider this proposal a necessary one to take forward the social democratic philosophy of the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who gave leadership to the 1956 progressive social revolution.