No use at all levels, genuine hurdle of Bangla as language

For the past few years, it has been stated in the written articles and audiovisual media of Bangladesh that the Bangla language has become as polluted as the rivers of the country. This pollution is reportedly mainly happening in three areas: 1. Standard Bangla pronunciation in English or dialectal style, 2. Using English-Hindi-dialectal words instead of Bangla words while speaking, and 3. Spelling distortion. The finger of blame has been pointed at various private media outlets including FM radio. The reality is that even though standard Bangla is spoken in the media with so-called pure pronunciation, speaking the Bangla language in an English accent or mixing English words in Bangla will not stop. People do not learn the language by listening to FM radio, FM radio wants to attract the attention of its customers and listeners by broadcasting programmes in the language they speak, in the interest of profit.

The future generation will become more English and Hindi speakers and naturally, they will mix more English-Hindi words in their Bangla. When multiple languages are combined, this is bound to happen, whether one likes it or not. The last person who does not like the mixture of English words in standard Bangla will leave the earth, let's say, before 2050. In the meantime, English words will be transformed by Bangla phonetics in such a way (like hawa, chair, nat-baltu) that the common man will not even notice when these words come from the English language.

If a private TV station broadcasts programmes only in the Sylheti dialect, what can the state have to say about it? If a playwright from Noakhali does not want to be understood in Barishal, why should the state be an obstacle? Similarly, if a private radio station broadcasts programmes in a particular dialect of Bangla, on what grounds will it be stopped? Where the High Court or some educational institutions are not using Bangla at all, FM radio is at least broadcasting programmes in Bangla, no matter how harsh it sounds to a quarter. The concept of audibility or purity of a language is also comparative. The ‘pure pronunciation’ of the standard Bangla of West Bengal and Bangladesh is not ‘pleasant to hear’ in any way.

Since prehistoric times, Punjabi-burqa-kurta-naan-turban-biryani-tandoori-gaan-Bhagwan… all have come to Bangladesh from North India or through North India. Due to the TV and internet, the influence of North India will become more ubiquitous day by day. This influence cannot be eliminated, but it can be kept at a tolerable level by practicing local culture further. Permanently closing Hindi TV channels is as impossible for the Bengali nation as banning consuming biryani. If the channels are closed, people will find many other ways to watch Hindi programmes.

What is the problem with learning a new language, Hindi, just by watching television? The fear that learning one language will harm the other is baseless. Childhood and adolescence are the real ages for learning a language. Hindi and Urdu are the same languages and filmy Hindi is gradually becoming Urdu. Due to the rapid population growth, the Bengali nation is gradually spreading across the subcontinent. Knowing Hindi and Urdu will make it easier to get work in the other two countries of the subcontinent and to mix with the people there. The two languages that are likely to face each other in future in India are Hindi and Bangla. The only thing that will make Hindi lag behind Bangla in this competition is that Hindi is not the mother tongue of all Hindi speakers. Therefore, learning Hindi will ultimately benefit Bengalis, with no possibility of impoverishment.

Due to Bollywood, Hindi has become the language of entertainment for almost all the nations of the subcontinent, including Bengalis. Those who do not understand Hindi will be deprived of an opportunity of entertainment. The authorities can remove Japanese Doraemon dubbed in Hindi; but what entertainment will they give to children in return? Will watching Doraemon be stopped if it is not airing on the channel? If quality Bangla programmes were made, people would probably turn away from Hindi. Bangla films have not improved since Hindi films were not allowed to be shown in Bangladeshi cinemas in the 1960s, but cinema halls in Bangladesh have closed one by one. On the other hand, many provincial film industries in India have not only survived by competing with Hindi films but have also made exemplary progress. The matter will be clear if we compare the quality of recent films in West Bengal with the quality of recent films in Bangladesh.

Why would the standard language be distorted by using dialectal words? In the March 7 speech, did the use of dialectal phrases like ‘Dibar Parba Na, ‘Amar Rakter Upar Para Diye’, etc. distort standard Bangla? Since the standard language is a universal dialect, it is natural for words from other dialects to be inserted into the dialect. If a speaker from Chattogram cannot find a specific Bangla word while speaking, will he refrain from using local words? Is speaking important, or is the correctness of the use of words important?

The genuine problem of Bangla as a language is that the language is not used at all levels and the language is not economically established. To solve these two problems, the following four-point programme can be implemented:

1. The use of the Bangla language must be ensured in the marketing of any product or service.
2. Standard Bangla language will be the only medium of instruction in all educational institutions, regardless of government or private. However, there will be a system for teaching English (and if possible, Arabic, Chinese, German, French, etc.) from primary school onwards (as a result, language training for the expatriate population and employment opportunities for language teachers will be created).
3. The Bengali Language Implementation Act, of 1987 must be implemented. Standard Bangla will be mandatory as the official language of all offices and courts. Anyone can claim the right to receive services in Bangla in any office or court.
4. Public opinion must be formed in favour of the demand for the introduction of Bangla at all levels.

A language doesn’t need any necessary condition to have only one spelling of a word. In any written language, there are few spelling alternatives and those alternatives should be allowed for three reasons: 1) If a new spelling is imposed on those who are used to the old spelling, it takes them time to get used to that spelling; 2) They may suffer serious financial losses for not writing the new spelling (let's say, they may fail in a competitive exam); 3) Grammar and language allow alternatives in many cases, so there is no harm in having alternatives in some spellings; 4) Out of multiple alternative spellings, only one spelling survives the flow of time.

The need to form a language cell and the need for language police to prevent all forms of language pollution have also been mentioned in some articles in newspapers and on the internet. But where various government agencies cannot agree on spelling, where the government itself is naming institutions in English (BGB, Teletalk), what will happen if a cell is formed to prevent spelling distortion or language abuse? Is there any guarantee that the language police will not pretend not to notice the spelling mistakes on the signboard?

Shishir Bhattacharya: Linguist and Professor, Institute of Modern Language, Dhaka University.