3 months ago
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On the juncture of International Mother Language Day, radical successful Kolkata associated with the written connection said that language, and not religion, indispensable specify quality identity, and that adjacent Bangladesh, wherever this peculiar time originated, showed that precocious by rejecting an Islamist enactment successful the elections.
“Language is the superior unit of individuality for immoderate federation oregon community. People who suffer their connection suffer their identity. They unrecorded nether the individuality of others, similar dependants. When a radical are deprived of their parent tongue, they suffer their self-respect. So February 21 (the Mother Language Day) is simply a festival of language. It reminds humanity that the parent lingua is arsenic ineffable and life-giving arsenic mother’s milk,” renowned Bengali writer Amar Mitra said.
“My parent lingua is Bangla, and I talk connected behalf of each parent tongues. Research suggests that astir fractional of the world’s 6,000 languages are endangered, with 1 connection disappearing each 2 weeks. When ascendant languages suppress number languages, alienation and separatism grow. India is simply a multilingual country. States were reorganised connected linguistic lines. All languages indispensable person adjacent dignity. In these anxious times, connection — not religion — indispensable specify quality identity. Only past shall we survive,” Mr. Mitra said.
It was connected February 21 successful 1952 that respective Bengalis successful East Bengal (later Bangladesh) were changeable dormant during protests demanding their connection beryllium fixed authoritative presumption by Pakistan. The time has been observed worldwide since the twelvemonth 2000; successful India, West Bengal successful peculiar celebrates the time with vigour, with astir acquisition institutions organising events.
“With the existent manner for translation from 1 connection to another, the inclination towards connection — and the connection time — has go much prominent. The quality of today’s India lies with its aggregate doors of information and religion redolent with languages. Now radical are much rooted successful their autochthonal languages arsenic a portion of their agelong locomotion to freedom. Education for generations among the Indians has fixed them the spot to capitalise connected the powerfulness of civilization and connection without immoderate doubt,” Jaydeep Sarangi, Principal, New Alipore College and a writer himself, said.
Ashok Singh of the West Bengal Hindi Speakers’ Society pointed retired that Bangladesh was the archetypal federation successful the satellite to beryllium named aft a connection and that the state was an illustration that it was language, much than religion, that kept radical united.
“There, fanatics attacked the precise past of the country’s independence; they broke the location of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but successful the end, radical rejected the Islamists successful the wide elections. That’s the spot of language,” Mr. Singh, a retired professor, said.
According to Satarupa Basu Ghosh, who has been a writer successful English and Bengali, Language Day contiguous holds peculiar value for determination languages successful India. “English whitethorn inactive unite the world, but for agelong that precise English has been customised to acceptable alongside determination dialects. As acold arsenic axenic determination connection is concerned, its value is increasing by the day. Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp winning the International Booker Prize past twelvemonth (2025) is the biggest illustration of the triumph of determination connection connected the satellite signifier successful caller times,” Ms. Basu Ghosh said.
“With the satellite contiguous fraught with terrible individuality crises and intolerance, arsenic quality beings driblet bombs connected 1 different astatine the driblet of a hat, connection is possibly the lone marker of an individuality near for the marginalised and the victims. In different parallel world, you termination a people’s language, and you erase their existence,” she said.
