Don't distort Bangla

Underscoring the need for further enriching Bangla, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called for building massive awareness to avoid distortion of the mother language.

"We want people to know different languages, but in doing so there shouldn't be any distortion of our language, and everyone should remain aware and cautious in this regard. Massive awareness should be created among people," she said.

The PM was inaugurating a four-day programme marking the International Mother Language Day 2016 and the Martyrs' Day at the International Mother Language Institute in the capital.

Hasina said she personally believes since the world has turned into a global village, people need to learn various languages for the sake of their livelihood while there is nothing wrong in learning multiple languages.

"But, we see very often a culture of forgetting Bangla among some people who consider it as an act of great virtue...it hurts me. Besides, there're people who think that their prestige would get perished if they couldn't enrol their children in English medium schools," she added.

Hasina also noted that there are some persons who consider pronouncing Bangla in English accent as a great thing.

Describing the background of establishing the International Mother Language Institute, she said the aim of her government is to further develop and enrich Bangla so that it could stand tall in the global arena and continue to attract more attention to the global community.

The PM also suggested that the institute authorities should continue efforts to preserve the languages of small ethnic groups so that their future generation could learn and practise those.

Hasina said Ekushey February belongs not only to Bangladesh, now it is globally recognised as the International Mother Language Day. "We want that people across the globe should know our culture and heritage."

She also called upon all to expand the use and practice of the mother language and create mass awareness through the media in this regard. "We should also aim to further flourish our own culture and uniqueness through the mass media and the entertainment media," she said.

Recalling with deep respect the martyrdom of all the language heroes alongside the role of Bangabandhu in the language movement, she said now this Ekushey February is being celebrated across 198 countries of the world.