Kolkata take steps to use Bangla on signboards

After the Indian Government granted classical language status to Bengali, Kolkata municipality has taken initiatives to use Bangla at all levels including the signboards of shops and business establishments.

According to sources, Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim is taking strong initiatives to use Bengali language mandatory in most of the sectors. After the recognition of Bangla as a classical language, Firhad said, "First, write the signboard in Bengali in big fonts." Then you can write in whichever language you like, be it Hindi, Urdu or English. However, give importance to Bengali language first.

In this regard, the overjoyed people of Kolkata said that the world knows about the struggle of Bengalis over the Bengali language. Let it be 21st February in Bangladesh and 19th May in Assam state of India. This recognition is landmark incident for the Bengalis who are spread in different parts of the world including West Bengal and Bangladesh.
"Any kind of achievement of Bengali language is an achievement of the Bengali people. It doesn’t matter in which country he/she is residing”, the citizens of the city said in response.

Mayor Firhad Hakim had earlier urged to use Bengali language in the signboards of shops and business establishments of Kolkata city. His statement was, 'Most people of the state understand Bengali. Their mother tongue is Bengali. Therefore, if Bengali is written at levels then it will be easier for everyone to understand and one can feel proud about it. This initiative did create a lot buzz during the time.

Left Front led government in West Bengal also took the same initiative during their rule and for various reasons, the initiative waned. During the Left Front regime, the artists and writers urged all to use Bengali language everywhere which got massive response from the public. At that time, in many places of Kolkata, there were signboards written in Bengali instead of Hindi and English.

Renowned Bengali litterateur Sunil Gangopadhyay was the pioneer of the initiative to keep the charm of Bengali language alive in the city of Kolkata. They were also assisted by the linguist Pabitra Sarkar. In an interview given to the media, he said, "Many of us, including Sunil, carried out a movement to start using Bengali language in the city in the 90s during the Left Front era. The government of that time also helped us. However, after Sunil's departure, the movement was much stymied.

Supporting the initiative of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim, Pabitra Sarkar said, "If any such initiative is taken then I will be very happy." Bengali language got the status of classical language after being deprived for a long time, so we should work more on Bengali language. This kind of initiative can be successful only if the state government or government institutions work for the spread of Bengali language”, he added.

People of Kolkata said that, “China and Japan are becoming one of the most advanced countries in their mother tongue-driven education system, more than 50 percent of parents in West Bengal including Kolkata are busy sending their children to English medium educational institutes. No one objects regarding the issue and thus a large part of these children cannot read or write Bengali.

They also feel that if West Bengal state government is a little more proactive, maybe Bengalis can nurture their language a little more carefully in the mixed culture of Kolkata.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed the joy and struggle of Bengali language after it got the classical language status. She said, 'I am happy that Bangla has been recognized as a classical language. I have been fighting for ten years. I wrote to the central government with lots of research papers of the researchers. Today if Tamil Nadu gets it, Kerala gets it, Bengali is the fifth largest language in the world, the second largest language in Asia. So why won't ours be recognized as a classical language? The center could not deny my document. Although deprived for a long time, Bengal got its respect. I am happy.'