Language movement and Bengali nationalism

Noruddin Mohammad Burhan There are socio-political forces embedded in the heart of nations that may remain dormant but become strong and irresistibly vibrant when faced with opposition. These sensitive forces are -language, race, culture, religion etc. The uprising that spurred the language movement on 1952 is a strong demonstration of the outcome of brutal attack on the language of the Bengalis by the non- Bengali rulers in the then Pakistan. Every new state must concentrate on nation building just after getting independence, but unfortunately Pakistan failed to do that. Famous Political Scientist Lucian W. Pye in his book 'Aspect of Political development' rightly pointed out that every new state needs to overcome six crises in the process of its political development: identity crisis, legitimacy crisis, participation crisis, penetration crisis, distribution crisis and integration crisis. After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Pakistan took a very wrong choice to make Urdu the 'only' state language. This failure gradually worsened the situation in building national integration between the two wings of Pakistan. After the creation of Pakistan, the refusal of the government to recognise Bangla as one of the state languages created the feelings of discontent among the East Pakistanis, especially the student community. Various organisations 'Gonotantric Jubo League', 'Tamaddun Majlish', ' Rastra Bhasha Shangram Parishad' gave a clear and loud message to the central government that no compromise would be made by the Bengalis on the question of language. Direndranath Datta, a member of Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (CAP), forwarded an amendment proposal at the CAP on February 25, 1948 for adopting Bangla as one of the official languages. He was severely criticised in the CAP for his proposal. Later on, M A Jinnah, the Governor General of Pakistan in a public meeting at the Race Course Maidan (presenty Suhrawardi Uddyan) on March 21, 1948 stated that the state language of Pakistan was going to be Urdu. He repeated the same statement in his convocation speech at the University of Dhaka on March 24, 1948. On January 26, 1952 with the address of Khawja Nazimuddin, the then Prime minister of Pakistan at the Paltan Maidan opting out for Urdu, the final phase of language movement began to quickly unfold. 'All Parties Central State language Action Committee' was immediately formed on January 30, 1952. This committee called a general strike throughout East Pakistan on February 21, 1952. To resist the province- wide mass protest and general strike, Nurul Amin, the then Chief Minister of East Bengal banned all processions and rallies on February 21, 1952 and imposed section 144. What followed was police shoot out and the supreme sacrifice of students laying down their lives for the cause of mother language. The main driving force of the language movement was the students, working in close cooperation with the political parties. Despite the collaboration of political parties, the spirit of the movement was non-partisan. The language movement drew widespread sympathy and support from all sections of the people including those living in the rural areas. This is because the large majority of the students came from rural areas. The consequence of the language movement through the achievement of Bangla as one of the state languages was a huge watershed in the thought process of the millions of Bengalis. The immediate fall out was a mass awareness through out the province of East Pakistan as regards the right to speak, write and preserve the dignity of the language. Cultural activists found it an opportune moment to explore the potentials of Bangla in a myriad variety of expressions through songs, stage plays, recitations characterising the distinctive spirit of Bengali nationalism. Looking at the language movement as a cultural movement is misleading, although it did generate a strong enthusiasm in pursuing cultural activities. It was essentially an eye opener for the people living in this part of the then Pakistan as regards their identity as a people with their own distinctive characteristics. The essence of this spirit was indeed political mingled with a strong socio-cultural consciousness. Curious as it is, religion believed to the common bond between the two wings of Pakistan and the reason for the birth of the state of Pakistan could not turn things around. It was an awakening that spurred the spirit of Bengali nationalism. In the successive struggles and movements through out the fifties and the sixties, it was this spirit that motivated the people leading eventually to the emergence of a free nation in 1971. The writer is MSS student in Political Science, University of Dhaka. noruddin_burhan@yahoo.com