MAMATA'S LAST LESSON

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.