Tushar K. Sen

 

 

2. Message Received from Dr. Debjani Chatterjee, Sheffield, U.K.

 

Dear Chandan,

    Nomoshkar & thank you for writing to me on 11th February about the Bangla Language Movement of 1961 and the Bangla Bhasha Shahid Divas Samity. I tend to be extremely busy with my writing and get a huge amount of correspondence, so sorry for this delay in replying.

    I am involved here in South Yorkshire with a small group of Bengali women from both India & Bangladesh - we're a voluntary (cultural) group and call ourselves Bengali Women's Support Group. Each year among the various events that we mark (International Women's Day, Eid, Diwali, Rabindra-Nazrul Jayanti) is 'Ekushay February' or 'Bengali Language Movement Day' which the United Nations has also now declared World Mother Language Day. This year too it is an occasion that we observe. Although Ekushay February will always have its sad aspect for Bengalis, being a day in 1952 when so many youths were killed for peacefully demonstrating for the right to use their mother tongue, we like to also celebrate the mother tongue. Sometimes, as this year, we link it to a book launch. Our group publishes bilingual community anthologies & our latest one is NODIR DESHER MEYE / DAUGHTERS OF A RIVERINE LAND. As probashi Bangali many in our group have poor Bangla, but we try in different ways to maintain our mother tongue.

    Ekushay February is being observed in some schools in Wales & England due to the United Nations' adoption of it as World Mother Language Day. Perhaps your Samity members may also like to observe this day and, in doing so, remember and respect all the young Bangla bhasha martyrs of both Bangladesh & India.

    A talented writer friend has just had an article about 'Ekushay February' published and, while I don't agree 100% with what he has written, it does give an original slant to the vast literature on this day. I reproduce it below in case it is of interest.

    With good wishes,

Debjani Chatterjee   

   

 

Spirit of Ekushey and the Ekushey book fair

Alas the spirit which gave impetus to the movement to make Bangla a state language of Pakistan is long dead and buried. It is now reduced to a yearly commemoration and token homage to the martyrs at the  Shahid  Minar and its replicas. The monumental struggle and sacrifice has been further unfocussed and  diluted by confusing the grand and unified concept of ‘the Bengali language’ to a non-descriptive, disparate and unidentifiable base idea called ‘mother tongue’.  "Please do not ask whose mother tongue! And which colloquial dialect of what district or sub-division of Bangladesh?"

To any erudite soul a clear distinction is made between  ’language’ (bhasha) and ’tongue’ (buli) or dialect. Only when the latter evolves through time and subsumes many tongues, and by the application of literary and linguistic genius over generations it acquires a written script with alphabet, its  lexicon, its books and literature and its use for teaching other academic subjects that it can reasonably be called a ‘language’. Every person on earth has a God-given mother tongue but not every person or community can be said to have an established language. The movement for Bangla was certainly not a movement to enshrine and preserve someone’s mother tongue, as the latter is guaranteed by God and does not require any movement to overcome objections.

Bangla was the standardised language of the people of the then East Pakistan (as well as that of West Bengal but that is immaterial in this context). The central Government of Pakistan did not object to the use of Bangla and other provincial languages such as Punjabi, Pushtu, Sindi etc. in their respective provincial governments, however to keep the country unified it wanted a single official language for its central administration. English would have been the easiest choice as it was already de facto the state language, however because of its links with the imperial power which was overthrown, something else was looked for. Ultimately Urdu was attempted to be imposed as a single state language without any rational or  democratic basis.  As the  majority population of Pakistan were Muslims, the choice of Arabic probably would have had a much wider unifying rationale. The next choice based on democratic principles falls on Bangla, however Muhammad Ali Jinnah and others in power at the centre at the time would hear none of this.
The people in the East realised of course that Urdu was a language of exploitation of the  Bengali people by a Colonial power thousands of miles away and hence the struggle began to make Bengali (or Bangla) also a state language of Pakistan and it came to a head on 21 February of 1952 when much blood was shed on the dry and wintry soil of Dhaka in furtherance of this demand. Subsequently every year we ceremonially remember the language movement Shahids and their sacrifices on this day.

Perhaps the language movement made a fundamental error of generosity  in not demanding that Bangla  must be the only state language of Pakistan as it was the living  language of the majority of its people. Because of this toning down of demand the language movement became separated from its democratic conceptual source and therefore on 29 February 1956, the first constitution of Pakistan with alacrity gave recognition to both Bangla and Urdu as the official languages of the State, (Article 214, paragraph 1). So the Bengali language movement obtained its resounding success and consequently its raison d’etre  became effectively dead. Instead of formulating a new  policy and movement to implement this victory to relevant spheres of national life, resting on the laurels and paying lip service to the martyrs, taking out a few processions and parades, writing a few books or newspaper articles wallowing in primitive raw sentimentality, became the normal rules of engagement on this matter.
English remained in fact the unofficial and useful state language and colonial exploitation  of East Pakistan by the West continued unabated. Thus another 14 years rolled by and in 1970, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League won the majority of Pakistan’s parliamentary seats and he rightfully hoped and demanded to become the Prime Minister of  all Pakistan, without any generosity or compromise of democratic principles like that of the language movement. Immediately the masks of brotherhood between Muslims came off and semblance of civilisation thrown out. Pakistan central government unleashed its military might to overtly subjugate its eastern colony with atrocious ferocity, killing its intellectuals, raping and murdering its women,  destroying about 3 million lives and establishing a reign of terror. After a year of struggle and immense sacrifice the freedom fighters with the assistance of India achieved a Free Bangladesh.
If there is any common connection between the language movement and the freedom movement it is the guiding principle of  democracy and not the often quoted but illogical emotional epithets such as ‘love of mother tongue’, ‘love of the country’, ‘patriotism’ etc. These concepts are inherent in every civilised and right thinking person and requires no loud affirmation or declaration except by those whose loyalty to these values are in doubt!
These epithets are also used by crafty politicians or writers for giving a readily understood lip service and  for rabble rousing and of course to sow ignorance and confusion for some personal credit or fame, but in the long term it does a great dis-service to the people harming its logic and intellect.
Even in  free Bangladesh the advancement and implementation of Bangla in all spheres of national life appears too slow,  taking its own sedate course. This is how it should be. People who espouse the all powerful English, tend to forget that in England for centuries Latin was the language of  academe and French was the language of the royal courts and  Nobles. English as we know it today was nowhere for about eight centuries after the Norman conquest, nor were its grammar and spelling  standardised. Notwithstanding our love and devotion for our  vernacular Bangla,  English still retains an edge in education as more and more skilled and educated people  hope to earn a living abroad, where knowledge of English is indispensable.
The Ekushey book fair organised by the Bangla Academy to synchronise with the language movement Martyr’s day is an excellent window of opportunity for writers, publishers and readers of books, where many books ( and cassettes) are made available to the public and are sold at a discounted price. However the habit of general book buying and reading is on the decline, simply because the modern life is too hectic for a leisurely good read. Newspapers, magazines, cinema,  radio, television, telephone, computers, internet etc., all impinge on the mind from all directions and compete for its due share of time and attention. Also the number of books published yearly are increasing  so fast that it is impossible to keep up with the tide, so most of us are merely content to look at a critical review or other form of extract or digest. I myself have bought many books on impulse over the years  (in English and Bengali) or have been presented with pristine copies by friends or fellow writers. And I  sincerely wished and hoped to read them sometime. But alas, they  are now merely  lining  the walls of my personal library in grand silence and neglect. I know of many friends whose personal libraries are similarly disposed. Even after my elevation into senior citizenship and lessons in speed-reading there is no time to honour the pages of a single such book.
Again I suppose it is as it should be. Free time is such a luxury  that there is a paramount urge to dose off in such interludes rather than engage in further physical or mental activities.

Shafi Ahmed