Recalling the support lent by India, Pakistan, among the countries, while Bangladesh proposed the worldwide celebration February 21 each year as the International Mother-tongue Day, Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner to India Mohammad Imran said, “The researchers of both the Bengals can work in unison to formulate a standardized Bengali language”. Speaking at the inauguration of the week-long mother-tongue festival organized by the University of Calcutta (CU) on February 21 2006, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the festival, Imran dwelt on mother tongue being a national asset.
While the Calcutta University Students’ Union General Secretary Anupam Pramanik urged for the presence of Bengali along with English in the University nameplates, CU Registrar Samir Kumar Badopadhyay in his presidential address, declared his plans to make the presence of Bengali felt in the identification of the various photographs and paintings in the university premises, nameplates of the various campuses and halls under the university, and letter correspondences by the University within the state, within a year.
Speaking on the importance of the day from a historical perspective, West Bengal Library Minister Nimai Chandra Mal advocated lending equal importance to all languages. Emphasizing on the two-fold emotional and social relevance of celebrating the occasion, CU Vice-chancellor Prof. Asis Kumar Banerjee said in his welcome address, “Make others conscious of their mother tongue, alongside reminding yourself of the same always, to further social advancement”.
Hailing the mother tongue festival as “the University of Calcutta’s blossoming rose”, CU Deputy Registrar Nitish Biswas announced the involvement of the Dhaka and the Calcutta Universities in joint programmes in the future. Inaugurating a folder consisting of a poem composed by Biswas under the inspiration of the Bengali address delivered by the West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on January 17 2006 at the inauguration the CU post-centenary golden jubilee celebrations, CU Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) Prof. Suranjan Das said, “We have to take the precedent of Bangladesh where Bengali can now be used for administrative works”.
At a seminar on the use of mother tongue in administration, Bhabesh Moitra said that the financial, political and cultural dominances are detrimental for improvement of mother tongue, while Dr. Biplab Chakraborty said, “language is identity of people”, as he emphasized on translation for knowing others.
Urging the CU authority to introduce Bengali in a big way in the university administration, CU Employees’ Committee General Secretary Anjan Ghosh that the CU laws should occur in Bengali, as well as the university should issue advertisements in Bengali.
In the ceremony strewn by Bengali songs and recitations, other dignitaries gracing the occasion were CU Pro-Vice Chancellor (Finance) Prof. Tapan Kumar Mukhopadhyay, CU Librarian Soumitra Sarkar, ex-parliamentarian and poet Prof. Chandrakala Pandey, among others.
Monday, July 23, 2007
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