Only Bangla will be our state language

Abul Mansur Ahmad (1898-1979)

I sincerely sympathise with the efforts of Dhaka Tamaddun Majlish in trying to make Bangla the state language of East Pakistan. 

Among other reasons, I would like to make Bangla the state language of East Pakistan for the following reasons: 

1. A truly democratic state cannot be established without the language of the people and the state being the same.

2. If Urdu is made the state language, the educated society of East Pakistan will become 'uneducated' and 'unfit' for government service overnight. By replacing Persian with English as the state language in the mid-nineteenth century, British imperialism made the Muslim educated society 'uneducated' and 'incompetent' in government work overnight. 

3. The propaganda being spread about how Bangla will be kept as the medium of education even if Urdu is made the state language will turn into political deception. The breadth and depth of knowledge in the state language that one possesses will be the criterion of competence in all fields of life. 

4. What is being said about Urdu being easier than Bangla is just a propaganda. In fact, Urdu is much more difficult than Bangla.

5. The well-known and beautiful Lakhnauvi script of Urdu is not suitable for scientific work like printing, typewriting etc. Kolkata and Egyptian fonts are confusing and difficult to learn. In both cases, printing the script is complicated.

6. The allegation that the Bangla language is close to Sanskrit and influenced by Hindus is false. The allegation that the Bangla language is unsuitable for Muslim culture is also incorrect. The Bangla that we want as the state language is not Bangla of Vyakaran Manjusha ; it is the Bangla spoken by the people of East Pakistan. 

7. We have no dogmatism about the alphabet. If the Bangla alphabet is proved to be unqualified for the pursuit of science even after making some possible changes, then we are willing to use the Roman alphabet. If the Urduwalas also agree to use the Roman alphabet instead of the Arabic, then the biggest argument in favour of Urdu is lost. The biggest appeal for Urdu to the Muslim masses is that it is written in Arabic script.

A truly democratic state cannot be established without the language of the people and the state being the same.

In addition to the seven arguments I have given above, there are many other arguments that are not worth any less in real life. 

If any proposal for discussion on the merits and demerits of Urdu and Bangla is raised in the Constituent Assembly, then it is mainly the students of East Pakistan who should make an effort to ensure the advocacy for Bangla is competent and sufficient. Because their role as the intelligentsia of East Pakistan is immense.

Abul Mansur Ahmad was an eminent Author, Journalist, and Politician.

The article first appeared in a booklet titled 'Pakistaner Rashtra Bhasha: Bangla na Urdu'. The booklet was published by Tamaddun Majlish in September 1947.

The article is translated from Bengali by Mayabee Arannya.