Kolkata, Aug 4 (IANS) Members of the civil society and a section of intellectuals from West Bengal have expressed solidarity with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress’ sustained protests on the attack of the “Bengali” language and alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in other states.

The outcry intensified after a letter from a Delhi Police inspector at the Lodhi Colony police station — seeking a translator for the “Bangladeshi language” in connection with a matter at Banga Bhawan — went viral on social media. The use of the term “Bangladeshi language” to refer to Bangla sparked outrage across West Bengal.

On Monday, Bengali intellectuals condemned the Delhi Police’s move, stating that Bangla is one of the constitutionally recognised languages of the country.

National award-winning filmmaker Goutam Ghose told IANS that such discrimination of “Bengalis” and “Bengali” language was not “acceptable in a democratic country” and appealed to all stakeholders to stop this immediately to protect peace, tolerance, and unity in the country.

“It is completely unacceptable in a democratic country. Bangla is one of the 22 constitutionally recognized scheduled languages in the country. This kind of labeling promotes hatred. I don’t know about the political implications of this, but what is happening is unfair, especially to people who migrate to other places to earn their livelihoods,” Ghose said.

The renowned filmmaker stated that there are multiple dialects of Bangla, which vary according to geographical area. “The language is the same. The dialect changes with geography. Bengalis in West Bengal speak in one dialect. Bengalis in Bangladesh speak another dialect. People in Jharkhand also speak Bangla with a different dialect. In addition, Bangla is spoken by a large number of people across the world. So this is nothing but a kind of cultural vandalism,” he added.

Bangla poet and writer Subodh Sarkar wondered whether people speaking in Tamil and Urdu in the country will be branded as Sri Lankan and Pakistani, respectively?

Bangla is one of the primary languages in the country. It has been recognised by the Constitution. After reading the Delhi Police letter, it seems that Bangla is not an Indian language. I strongly condemn this and the people who are branding Bengalis as Bangladeshis. This is nothing but a part of a conspiracy, and the Delhi Police is just a part of it. Does that mean those who speak Tamil will be branded as Sri Lankan? And those who speak Urdu as Pakistani?” Sarkar told IANS, while voicing support for widespread protests over the development.

Veteran actor and theatre personality Koushik Sen echoed the concerns, linking the incident to a larger pattern of targeting economically disadvantaged Bengali migrants.

“It has been going on for some days now that Bengalis coming from a poor economic background are being targeted in other states. This situation is being created by the party that is in power at the Centre. We do not want to see this issue being used for political gain. The latest incident describing Bangla as a Bangladeshi language is just a part of it. This is being done either to win the elections or to send a strong message against infiltration,” Sen told IANS.

Educationist and professor of philosophy, Miratun Nahar, called it a move to impose Hindi across the country.

“Bangla has been deliberately regarded by the Centre as the language of Bangladeshi with the motive to impose Hindi on all Indians. As there is no common language in India, English has been accepted as a language of communication,” she said.

She further said that the purpose of the ruling party at the Centre is to change the constitution and establish a different Bharat as early as possible. “Countrymen all over India must raise their voice against this aggressive attitude of the central ruling party, which has failed to meet the daily needs of their countrymen,” she added.

Bengali filmmaker Srijit Mukherjee took to social media to denounce the language of the Delhi Police. “That’s not Bangladeshi language, morons, that’s Bangla or Bengali, the same language in which your national anthem was originally written and one of the 22 official languages of India,” the filmmaker wrote while sharing a photocopy of the Delhi Police letter.

Singer and frontman of Bengali rock band “Fossils”, Rupam Islam, also registered his protest. “What is this? Isn’t BANGLA one of the 22 official languages of India? Why must it be mentioned as BANGLADESHI LANGUAGE? Height of Ignorance and stupidity,” Islam wrote in a social media post.

Bengali folk singer and musician Surojit Chatterjee said in a social media post, “Bangla” is referred to as the Bangladeshi language. “Exactly the kind of ignorance I expect from the people responsible… Not surprised at all.”

–IANS

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