{"id":1677,"date":"2024-02-22T10:08:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T10:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derek.in\/mp\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2024-03-01T08:37:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T08:37:01","slug":"for-my-mother-language-its-time-bengali-got-classical-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derek.in\/mp\/for-my-mother-language-its-time-bengali-got-classical-status\/","title":{"rendered":"For My Mother Language – It’s Time Bengali Got Classical Status"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am proud of my mother language.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0986\u09ae\u09bf \u0986\u09ae\u09be\u09b0 \u09ae\u09be\u09a4\u09c3\u09ad\u09be\u09b7\u09be \u09a8\u09bf\u09af\u09bc\u09c7 \u0997\u09b0\u09cd\u09ac\u09bf\u09a4 |<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u092e\u0941\u091d\u0947 \u0905\u092a\u0928\u0940 \u092e\u093e\u0924\u0943\u092d\u093e\u0937\u093e \u092a\u0930 \u0917\u0930\u094d\u0935 \u0939\u0948 |<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0b8e\u0ba9\u0bcd \u0ba4\u0bbe\u0baf\u0bcd\u0bae\u0bca\u0bb4\u0bbf\u0baf\u0bc8 \u0ba8\u0bbf\u0ba9\u0bc8\u0ba4\u0bcd\u0ba4\u0bc1 \u0baa\u0bc6\u0bb0\u0bc1\u0bae\u0bc8\u0b95\u0bcd \u0b95\u0bca\u0bb3\u0bcd\u0b95\u0bbf\u0bb1\u0bc7\u0ba9\u0bcd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distinct Identity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Va\u1e45ga-Bh\u0101sa was the language spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient Janapada of Vanga Desa, in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The term ‘Va\u1e45ga’ 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beginning of Bengali literature was marked with the Buddhist text Cary\u0101pada, 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 Cary\u0101pada 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bengali meets all the criteria as outlined in the 2004 Government of India notification, consider these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n