This is a quiz question for
Mamata Banerjee. When is the International Mother Language Day observed and why?
Now if Banerjee’s ill-tempered mind
doesn’t have the answer, she can consult her quiz master, Derek O Brian. In the
meantime, some basic historical background related to these questions.
World over freedom struggles
were mostly fought against imperialism, racism, militarism, cultural chauvinism
etc.
But, the only freedom struggle of a country in the world that triggered
from the forceful imposition of a foreign language on the natives was in
Bangladesh - then East Pakistan.
The brutal West Pakistan
dictators forcefully tried to impose Urdu on the Bengali-speaking population
through legislation in 1947. There was widespread protest and the West Pakistan
regime outlawed public meetings and rallies.
Students from Dhaka University
defying the order held protest rallies and on February 21, 1952 several
students were killed in police firing. The rest is history.
Bengalee was not only given
official status but the movement germinated into Bangladesh’s freedom struggle from
West Pakistan’s – now Pakistan- and Bangladesh was born with of course India's assistance.
So Banerjee-Brian, the
International Mother Language Day is observed every year on February 21 to
honour this struggle because you surely don’t have the answers or why the Darjeeling
imbroglio.
It is now clear that Mamata has
anger-frustration management issues. However, it is ironic that ultra-left and
so-called intellectual-Bhadrolok in West Bengal are silent with the
“compulsory” imposition of Bengalee on a Nepali-speaking population.
Although both the struggles (Bangladesh
and Darjeeling) have their own contrasts in several ways, but Bengal’s ruling
class trying to impose a language – even though remotely - on the majority
population is deplorably sick.
Banerjee may argue that
Bengalee is not being made the sole official language in Darjeeling, as was the
case of West Pakistan which imposed Urdu as the sole official language.
But, even making Bengalee
“compulsory” as one of the subjects in schools for the native Gorkhas is the
last thing you would expect from a person whose mother tongue is Bengalee - after
we have been through the language movement ourselves.
It should be a matter of choice
left to individuals if they wish to dive into the vast ocean of Bangla
literature.
The present imposition of the
language in Darjeeling came through a diktat from the education department in
Kolkata, just like in the case of West Pakistan in which an education summit
held miles away in Karachi proposed that Urdu be made the sole official
language in East Pakistan.
The demand for Gorkhaland is
nothing new. Will the State be carved out of West Bengal is a different subject
matter altogether, but Mamata-Brian and all the conveniently silent Bhadraloks,
here is your last lesson:
Little Fanz wondered aloud in
Aphonse Daudet’s classic The Last Lesson when the Germans banned French from schools: “Will
they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” The simple answer is: NO!
The pigeons have again flown
happily over France and Germany and would do so over Darjeeling and the
walls would be painted: “Viva la Gorkhaland.” Class dismissed.
