Amar Ekushey and the hoax
Ratan Sarkar, On e-mail
Every year 21 February is observed to commemorate those who sacrificed their valuable lives in 1952 so that our people could use Bangla as the official language. Their sacrifices paved the way to the ultimate liberation of Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani rulers. It is expected that our national language will be honoured and respected in all walks of life. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Last year I was in a department store in Uttara (Dhaka). When I was checking out at the cash, the lady, a Bangladeshi, spoke to me in English. When I requested her to speak in Bangla, she arrogantly reminded me that it was the policy of the store to use English as the language of communication. I was shocked by her reply and reminded her that Bangla was the national language of Bangladesh. My appeal had little impact on her. Later, I noticed that in several stores in Dhaka, the use of English has become a standard practice. This step motherly attitude towards Bangla is indeed shocking. I remember very well when one of my relatives who was a teacher at Dhaka University in the 1960s was about to lose his job as he was teaching a science subject in Bangla. People have made tremendous sacrifices to earn the right to use Bangla. Unfortunately, it appears that nowadays these sacrifices have been almost forgotten. This is also noticeable in many Bangla newspapers where journalists are using English words when equivalent Bangla words are available. Bangla is a very rich language and that has to be acknowledged. The widespread use of English is also taking place in some of our foreign missions. Some embassies offer forms in English, deliberately ignoring the use of Bangla. It is worthwhile to point out that in some countries of the continental Europe, there are several Bangladeshis who only know Bangla and the language of the country where they reside. Nowadays, citizens of the most European countries know English quite well. But they use their own national language. It is time we learned to respect Bangla in the truest sense of the term, rather than paying only a lip service to it. ***Amar Ekushey & the International Mother Language Day have been observed with all warmth and enthusiasm across the country and beyond. People from all walks of life have thronged the Shaheed Minars in the country with a solemn and warm reverence to pay tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives on this very day in 1952 and thus enabled the Bengali people speak out in their own language. We had our language freed from the cruel imposition by then government that was alien to our tongue. We got the freedom to speak in our collective spirit; we had furthered our cause for a complete freedom from any power ruling us that culminated in the glorious liberation war and the subsequent triumph in 1971. Millions of martyrs, known and unknown paved the way to liberation. Now let us uphold the spirit of Amar Ekushey, let us uphold the essence of our being a free and proud nation. Rafiqul Islam Rime, Agrabad, Chittagong
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