I am proud of my mother language.

আমি আমার মাতৃভাষা নিয়ে গর্বিত |

मुझे अपनी मातृभाषा पर गर्व है |

என் தாய்மொழியை நினைத்து பெருமைக் கொள்கிறேன்.

Linguistic politics has been a central theme of Indian democracy. The Visalandhra movement and the demise of veteran freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu of Andhra Pradesh (erstwhile Madras Presidency) prompted Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to declare the linguistic reorganisation of Indian states. After 1989, with regional parties gaining considerable influence in the formation of coalition governments in New Delhi, the demand for classical language status for Tamil grew stronger. In 2004, the Union Government conceded to the political pressure and created a new category of languages, known as ‘Classical Languages’. Tamil was the first beneficiary. Since then, Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014) were added to the list.

The West Bengal government has been advocating for the recognition of Bengali as a Classical Language. Let us examine whether this demand holds any merit.

Distinct Identity

Vaṅga-Bhāsa was the language spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient Janapada of Vanga Desa, in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The term ‘Vaṅga’ first appears in the Aitareyya Brahmana. Distinguished linguist Dr Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay in his work Origin and Development of the Bengali Language writes that modern-day Bengal was a conglomeration of several territories that were not Aryanised till the 4th century BCE.

Baudhayana also excludes Bengal from the land of Aryans, making it abundantly clear that Bengal had a different culture and language. As noted by Dr. Chattopadhyay and Dr. Sukumar Sen, the Bengali language acquired its distinct form in the 10th century. They have traced the origin of Bengali to the 6th century Magadhi Apabhramsha, a written language that evolved from the spoken Magadhi Prakrit prevalent in Eastern India. When King Shashanka established his independent Gauda kingdom in the 7th century in Bengal, this newborn Bengali language became the official language of his Gauda-Vanga Rashtra. This is supported by Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah, an accomplished linguist and philologist.

The beginning of Bengali literature was marked with the Buddhist text Caryāpada, written between the 8th and 12th centuries. A large number of Siddhacharyas who wrote these were from Bengal, and as such, Bengali’s claim on the Caryāpada verses is far stronger than that of any other Indian language. Archaeological findings and inscriptions in Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese indicate that Bengali as a language existed even in the 3rd-4th century BCE.

While Bengali meets all the criteria as outlined in the 2004 Government of India notification, consider these:

• International Mother Language Day (February 21) commemorates the Bengali Language Movement, which ultimately led to the formation of Bangladesh.
• Bengali is the second most spoken language in India, spoken by 8% of the country’s population from the states of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and Jharkhand. It is also the seventh most spoken language in the world.
• The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were composed by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali.
• All Parliament sessions begin and end with songs written in Bengali language.

The New Education Policy provides for training in the six officially recognised classical languages, as well as Pali, Prakrit and Persian, as part of the curriculum.

Foundation Of Indian Nationalism

Bengal was the centre of the renaissance movement in late-18th-century India. From Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay to Rabindranath Tagore, the foundation of Indian nationalism is written in golden letters in Bengali. Our school textbooks tell us about Vande Mataram and the lives and contributions of heroes like Kanailal Dutta, Master Da Surya Sen, Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki, Dinabandhu Mitra, Madhusudan Dutt, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Chandranath Basu, Sri Aurobindo and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda, Bagha Jatin famously remarked, “Amra morbo, jagat jagbe” (we shall die to awaken the nation).

The struggle for the preservation of linguistic traditions and their official recognition is an arduous journey. Currently, 38 languages, including Ho, Saora, Kuruk, Garo, Khasi, Tulu, Nicobarese and Magahi, among others, await inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The delay in granting recognition to these languages raises serious concerns.

Apart from Bengali, languages such as Pali, Marathi, Manipuri, and Maithili have also been demanding classical language status. All six languages recognised as classical languages were acknowledged between 2004 and 2014. Bengali has still not been included as a classical language. Can you believe it.

[This article was also published in NDTV | Thursday, February,22 2024]