Antorjatik Bhasha Dibosh

Nelson Mandela said that if you talk to a man in a language he understands, this goes to his head and if you talk to him in his mother tongue, this goes to his heart. It is Mother tongue that connects us to our roots. 21 February is being observed globally as the International Mother Language Day.

The decision was proclaimed at the 30th General Conference of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held from 26 October to 17 November 1999 in Paris to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multiculturalism. The day has been selected on the ground that on this day in 1952, in retaliation to the key resolution passed at a national education summit in Karachi 1947 advocating Urdu as the sole state language and its exclusive use in the media and in schools, people of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) fought and sacrificed their lives to keep the glory and pride of their mother tongue (Bangla).UNESCO, in appreciation and recognition of the unprecedented sacrifice made by the Bengali people for the cause of their mother tongue (matribhasa), selected 21 February for this prestigious occasion. Under the inspiration of Prof. Suchandra Chakravarti, Vice-Principal, Arts, the Bengali Department of the college celebrated this important event by organizing an academic-cultural programme. The ball was set rolling by the chief guest of the programme Prof. Gopa Dutta Bhowmick of Jadavpur University, who delivered an absorbing lecture on the significance of Bhasha Andolon. The occasion was further graced by Rabindra Sangeet sung by Prof Debisree Dutta of Vidyasagar College (Day), Prof. Rekha Nariwal of The Bhawanipur Education Society College and Sreyashi Banerjee, student, Dept. Bengali, The Bhawanipur Education Society College. The programme would not have been successful without the enthusiastic paper presentations of the students of the Department of Bengali. The young scholars focused on the reconstruction of the Bengali Language in the contemporary media and the entertainment world. The purpose of this programme was: (A) to make the students realize that mother tongue is the most powerful instruments of preserving our tangible and intangible heritage. It is the essence and identity of culture. It is a major tool for communication, exchanging ideas, emotions and feelings, which make individual accomplishments easier; (B) to encourage the young generation to appreciate and develop their own perspectives and interpretations of their mother language making it relevant even in the era of globalization of communication and the tendency to use a single language.