Linguistic Nationalism: Special reference to Bangladesh

         Linguistic Nationalism: Special reference to Bangladesh 

Introduction:
When the state of Pakistan was formed in 1947, its two regions, East Pakistan and West Pakistan, were split along cultural, geographical, and linguistic lines. In 1948, the government of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Pakistan.

The Language Movement catalyzed the assertion of Bengali national identity in Pakistan, and became a forerunner to Bengali Nationalist movements and subsequently the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

Why men rebel ?:
Relative deprivation theory of Ted Robert Gurr expounds/says that intensity, magnitude and duration of collective violence is determined by the degree of deprivation experienced by the dominated populace.

 According to this theory cultural element can be divided into two group core

•        1. Cultural element

•        2. Peripheral cultural element.

Core cultural element refers to those elements on which the very existence of a nation depend e.g ethnicity. Whereas peripheral cultural element includes those elements without which the uniqueness of a nation will be destroyed or distorted but the nation will survive e.g language. Any attack on core cultural element results in intense collective violence which means mass rebellion due to deep sense of deprivation.

Attack on peripheral cultural element will not result in extreme resistance but will nonetheless; result in certain degree of resistance that is moderate collective violence.

This theory explains the political events of East Pakistan. When Pakistan government tried to impose Urdu as the only state language of Pakistan they attacked on the core cultural element of the Bengali people. As a result people of East Pakistan erupt in revolt

Partition of Bengal:

Bangladesh in constructing history under the influence of nationalism. The significant moments in their history are 1905 when Bengal was divided by the British provoking a very powerful movement by the Bengali nationalists to undo it. The British government was forced to annul the partition in 1911.

Lahore Resolution:

 (22^nd march to 24^th march, 1940): Northwestern and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign. That the areas where the Muslims are numerically in a majority, but in 1946 Jinnah deny this word ‘independent states’ and he said it was printing mistake ; it should be ‘independent state’.

Bengal became East Pakistan:

The situation changed in 1947, when Bengal was divided on religious basis and the Congress rejected the idea of an independent Bengal. Therefore, 1947 was the point in history when East Bengal became East Pakistan and aligned itself with West Pakistan on the basis of religion.In 1947, in line with the Partition of India, Bengal was partitioned between the Hindu majority west and Muslim majority East. East Bengal became part of the Islamic state of Pakistan while West Bengal became part of India.

Jinnah ordained Urdu as a national language:

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the central government under Muhammad Ali Jinnah ordained Urdu to be the sole national language, even though the Bengali-speaking peoples formed a majority of the national population. He did so because Urdu was a neutral language; not the mother tongue of any one of Pakistan's ethnicities.

Created sectional tensions:

The policy, compounded by sectional tensions served as a major provocation of political conflict. Despite protests in 1948, the policy was enshrined into law and reaffirmed by national leaders, including several Bengali politicians. Facing rising tensions, the government in East Pakistan outlawed public meetings and gatherings.

Chronology of Language Movement:

September 15, 1947: Tamuddun Majlis (Cultural society, an organization by scholars, writers and journalist) demand Bangla language as national language.

November 1947: Educator Fazlur Rahman opposed Urdu as the only national language in the Pakistan Education Conference.

February23, 1948: Dhirnedra Nath Dutta demand Bangla as a state language along with Urdu and English in first Pakistan constituent assembly.

March 1948: A committee of Action of the students of Dhaka University is set up with the objective of achieving national language.

March 21, 1948: Jinnah declares in the Dhaka University convocation “the state language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Anyone one tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan”

January 26,1952: In a public meeting at Paltan Moidan , Dhaka. Prime minister Najimuddin declares that Urdu alone  will be the state language of Pakistan .

January 31, 1952: Abroad-based  All party committee of Action (ACPA) is constituted with Kazi Golam Mahbub as convener and Maulana Bhasani as chairman , and with two representatives from the Awami League , Students League , Youth League , Khilafate – Rabbani party, and the Dhaka University State Language Committee of Action.

February 3, 1952: In a protest meeting the Committee of Action decided to hold a general strike on 21 February.

February 20 1952: An order was promulgated under section 144 of the criminal procedure code prohibiting processions and meeting in Dhaka City.

February 21, 1952: The student of Dhaka University decided to defy the official ban in a meeting and decided to protest in peaceful processions. The police opened fire on students in front of Dhaka Medical College Hostel.     

Mohammad Salauddin

Abdul Jabbar

Abul Barakat

Rafiquddin Ahmed

Abdus Salam were among those who become martyrs.     

May 7,1947: The Pakistan government recognizes Bangla as a state language.

November 17,1999: UNESCO proclaimed 21 February as International Mother Language Day, it is an honor bestowed by the international community on the Language Movement of Bangladesh .

Impact of Linguistic Movement of Bangladesh (1952):   

Political:

1. Increase political concern.

2. United Front Coalition and great victory 1954 general election.

3. Muslim League become unpopular party.

4. Drive for Bengal Autonomy (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman present 6 point for full autonomy for Bengal province).

5. Mass Uprising (1969).

6. 1970 Election (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League won a landslide victory  167 seats out of a possible whole Pakistan 313 , thereby securing an absolute majority in the Assembly)

7. Lead to Independent 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independent on March 26, 1971 (“This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you are and with whatever you have, to resist the occupation army. Our fight will go on till the last soldier of the Pakistan Occupation Army is expelled from the soil of independent Bangladesh. Final victory is ours. Joy Bangla!”

Cultural:  

1. February 21, it has inspired the development and celebration of the Bengali language, literature and culture.

2. February 21, celebrated as Language Movement Day or Shohid Dibosh (Martyrs' Day), is a major national holiday in Bangladesh.

3. Shaheed Minar, or the Martyr's monument, located near Dhaka Medical College commemorates those who lost their life during the protests.

3. A month-long event called the Ekushey Book Fair is held every year to commemorate the movement.

4. Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, is awarded annually in memory of the sacrifices of the movement.

5. Songs such as Abdul Gaffar Choudhury's Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano, set to music by Shaheed Altaf Mahmud, as well as plays, works of art and poetry played a considerable role in rousing the people's emotions during the movement to till now .

6.  Since the events of February 1952, poems, songs, novels, plays, films, cartoons and paintings were created to capture the movement from varied point of views.

7. Established Bangla Academy (1955) for promoting Bangla Language. 

8. Country name Bangladesh also came from Bangla language.  
9. Increase concern about won culture and tradition.

Conclusion:

The Language movement and its fallout had created substantial cultural and political animosity between the two wings of Pakistan (East Pakistan/present Bangladesh and West Pakistan). No other nation fought and martyred for establishing their mother language as their nation language. Since the UNESCO proclamation (1999) 188 countries across the globe observe the day to promote linguistic diversity and raise awareness cultural traditions based on understanding tolerance and dialogue.