Bengali language movement: Difference between revisions

{{short description|1940s-50s movement for recognition of the Bengali language in East Bengal (now Bangladesh)}}

The '''Bengali Language Movement''' ({{lang-bn|ভাষা আন্দোলন}} ''Bhasha Andolôn'') was a political movement in former [[East Bengal]] (renamed [[East Pakistan]] in 1952) <!-- Please note that East Bengal was the administrative division of the [[Dominion of Pakistan]] corresponding to today's Bangladesh from 1947 to 1955 --> advocating the recognition of the [[Bengali language]] as an [[official language]] of the then-[[Dominion of Pakistan]] in order to allow its use in government affairs, the continuation of its use as a medium of education, its use in media, currency and stamps, and to maintain its writing in the [[Bengali alphabet|Bengali script]].

When the Dominion of Pakistan was formed after the separation of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 when the British left, it was composed of various ethnic and linguistic groups, with the geographically non-contiguous East Bengal province having a mainly [[Bengali people|Bengali]] population. In 1948, the [[Governor-General of Pakistan|Government of the Dominion of Pakistan]] ordained [[Urdu]] as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Bengal. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the [[University of Dhaka]] and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956.

  | jstor=312861}}</ref>

In the height of civic unrest, [[Governor-General of Pakistan]] [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] arrived in Dhaka on 19 March 1948. On 21 March, at a civic reception at [[Suhrawardy Udyan|Racecourse Ground]], he claimed that the language issue was designed by a "[[fifth column]]" to divide Pakistani Muslims.<ref>{{Harvnb|Umar|2004|p=34}}</ref><ref name="SA9">{{cite web |title=De-Pakistanisation of Bangladesh |url=http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers22%5Cpaper2199.html |author=R. Upadhyay |publisher=Bangladesh Monitor, South Asia Analysis Group |date=7 April 2007 |access-date=16 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611044641/http://www.saag.org/papers22/paper2199.html |archive-date=11 June 2007}}</ref> Jinnah further declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language,<ref name="Banglapedia" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Uddin|2006|pp=2–4}}</ref><ref name="UStudies">{{cite book |editor1=James Heitzman |editor2=Robert Worden |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |access-date=16 June 2007 |chapter=Pakistan Period (1947–71) |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/14.htm |publisher=Government Printing Office, Country Studies US |year=1989 |isbn=0-16-017720-0}}</ref><ref name="sayeed">{{cite journal |last=Sayeed |first=Khalid Bin |title=Federalism and Pakistan |journal=Far Eastern Survey |publisher=Institute of Pacific Relations |volume=23 |issue=9 |pages=139–143 |issn=0362-8949 |date=September 1954 |doi=10.1525/as.1954.23.9.01p0920l |jstor=3023818}}</ref> labelling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan". Jinnah delivered a similar speech at [[Curzon Hall]] of the University of Dhaka on 24 March.<ref name="JSToldenburg" /> At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience. He later called a meeting of a state language committee of action, and overruled the contract that was signed by Khawaja Nazimuddin with the student leaders.<ref name="helal263" /> Before Jinnah left Dhaka on 28 March, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Umar|2004|p=35}}</ref>

The Urdu-Bengali controversy was reignited when Jinnah's successor, governor-general [[Khawaja Nazimuddin]], staunchly defended the "Urdu-only" policy in a speech on 27 January 1952.<ref name="helal263" /> On 31 January, the ''[[Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod]]'' (All-Party Central Language Action Committee) was formed in a meeting at the Bar Library Hall of the University of Dhaka, chaired by [[Maulana Bhashani]].<ref name="Banglapedia" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Umar|2004|pp=192–193}}</ref> The central government's proposal of writing the Bengali language in [[Arabic script]] was vehemently opposed at the meeting. The action committee called for an all out protest on 21 February, including strikes and rallies.<ref name="helal263" /> In an attempt to prevent the demonstration, the government imposed [[Section 144]] in Dhaka, thereby banning any gathering.<ref name="Banglapedia"/>

  }}</ref> As the news of the killings spread, disorder erupted across the city. Shops, offices and public transport were shut down and a general strike began.<ref name="UStudies" /> At the assembly, six legislators including [[Manoranjan Dhar]], Boshontokumar Das, Shamsuddin Ahmed and [[Dhirendranath Datta]] requested that chief minister [[Nurul Amin]] visit wounded students in hospital and that the assembly be adjourned as a sign of mourning.<ref name="bashir377393">{{Harvnb|Al Helal|2003|pp=377–393}}</ref> This motion was supported by some treasury bench members including [[Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish]], Shorfuddin Ahmed, Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar and Mosihuddin Ahmed.<ref name="bashir377393" /> However, Nurul Amin refused the requests.<ref name="Banglapedia" /><ref name="bashir377393" />

  | doi = 10.1525/as.1997.37.9.01p02786

On 7 May 1954, the constituent assembly resolved, with the Muslim League's support, to grant official status to Bengali.<ref name="Pakspace" /> Bengali was adopted as an official language of Pakistan along with Urdu in the article 214(1) when the first [[Constitution of Pakistan of 1956|constitution of Pakistan]] was enacted on 29 February 1956.<ref name="bashir608613" />

|doi = 10.1525/as.1959.28.4.01p1259x

* [[:Category:Bengali-language activists]]

[[Category:History of Bangladesh]]

[[Category:Mass murder in India]]