Mamata urges PM Modi to accord Bengali the status of ‘classical language’

Banerjee stated that based on scientific research it was established by her research team that Bengali has its origins 2500 years ago. 

MP, 11 Jan 2024, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking the Central government to officially list Bengali as a “classical language”. 

Banerjee stated that based on scientific research it was established by her research team that Bengali has its origins 2500 years ago. 

“I have written a letter to the Prime Minister. We have done research and assembled scientific facts which date the origin of Bengali language in the last 2500 years. It shows that our language is a classical language with roots in antiquity. Hence, we feel that this deserves to be classified as a classical language by the Ministry of Home Affairs,” Banerjee said in a press conference on Thursday. 

She said that her government has sent “four bulky volumes” of scientific evidence to the Central government to support the claims. 

“Our research shows that Bengali retains its fundamental syntactic structure, as well as its distinct morphological and phonological patterns, throughout its course of evolution at least from 3rd BCE,” Banerjee said. 

She also accused the Central government of disrespecting the Bengali language. “Though they acknowledged several other languages as classical languages, they deprived Bengali in that respect. Besides the fact that it is as old as 2500 years, Bengali, apart from being an official language of our state and the second most spoken language in India, is also the 7th most spoken language of the world,” she opined. 

Tamil was the first language in India to be accorded classical language status in 2004. Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia are other languages that followed suit. To be accorded a classical language status, a language must have high antiquity of its early texts or recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years. 

“If languages from other states are notified as classical languages, why can’t our language?” she questioned. 

She added that if Bengali is accorded a classical language status then a Centre of Excellence will be set up in Bengal. 

In 2020, Banerjee had urged the Centre to give Bengali the status of a classical language akin to how the Bengal government recognised Hindi, Urdu, Gurmukhi, Ol Chiki, Rajbanshi, Kamtapuri, Kurukh languages. 

She also flagged the issue of Centre not allowing West Bengal to be named as ‘Bangla’ after resolutions were passed twice in the Bengal Legislative Assembly. 

“We gave all the clarifications they sought. They have allowed Bombay to be renamed Mumbai, Orissa as Odisha but why not Bangla. 

The renaming will help the state ascend in the alphabetical order in the list of states during any central meeting,” she said. She has also urged the Prime Minister to accord Gangasagar Mela a national fair status. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/mamata-urges-pm-modi-to-accord-bengali-the-status-of-classical-language-547849