But, Sir, if English can have an honored place in Rule 29 that the proceedings of the Assembly should be conducted in Urdu or English why Bangalee, which is spoken by four crores forty lakhs of people should not have an honored place, Sir, in rule 29 of the procedure Rules. So, Sir, I know I am voicing the sentiments of the vast millions of our State and therefore Bengalee should not be treated as a Provincial Language. It should be treated as the language of the State. And therefore, Sir, I suggest that after the word 'English', the words “Bengalee" be inserted in Rule 29...
Mr. Prem Hari Barma (East Bangal: General): Sir, I whole-heartedly support the amendment moved by my Hon'ble and esteemed friend, Mr. Dhirendra Nath Datta. Sir, this amendment does not seek to oust English or Urdu altogether but it seeks only to have Bengalee as one of the media spoken in the Assembly by the Members of the Assembly.
So, it is not the intention of the amendment altogether to oust English or Urdu, but to have Bengalee also as the lingua franca of the State, Sir, as my Honorable friend has told the House, the majority of the people of the State of Pakistan speaks Bengalee. Therefore, Bengalee must find a place as one of the media in which the Members can address the Assembly. Another difficulty will be that if any member speaks in his mother tongue, but if it is not one of the media in which the members can address the House, the true speech will not be recorded, but only a translation of the speech in the proceedings of the House will be recorded. Therefore, it is necessary for the majority of the people of the State that the speeches which will be delivered in Bengalee should be recorded in Bengalee. With these few words I support the amendment moved by Mr. Dhirendra Nath Datta.
The Hon'ble Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan (Prime Minister and Minister for Defence): Mr. President, Sir, I listened to the Speech of the Hon'ble the Mover of the amendment with very great care and attention. I wish the Hon'ble member had not moved his amendment and tried to create misunderstanding between the different parts of Pakistan. My Honorable friend has waxed eloquent and stated that Bengalee should really be the lingua franca of Pakistan. In other words, he does not want Bengalee only to be used as a medium of expression in this House, but he has raised indeed a very important question. He should realize that Pakistan has been created because of the demand of a hundred million Muslims in this sub-continent and the language of a hundred million Muslims is Urdu and, therefore, it is wrong for him now to try and create the situation that as the majority of the people of Pakistan belongs to one part of Pakistan, therefore the language which is spoken there should become the State language of Pakistan. Pakistan is a Muslim State and it must have as its lingua franca the language of the Muslim nation. My Honorable friend is displeased that Urdu should replace English. The intention is that instead of changing English as the State language which it has been so long. Urdu should be the State language, Sir, my honorable friend never minded it, never pressed for Bengalee as long as English was the State language. I never heard in the Central Assembly for years and years any voice raised by the people of Bengal that Bengalee should be the State language. I want to know why is this voice being raised today and I am sorry that he should feet if necessary to bring in this question. We do recognise the importance of Bengalee. There is no intention to oust Bengalee altogether from Bengal. As a matter of fact, it would be wrong for anyone to thrust any other language on the people of a province which is not their mother tongue, but, at the same time, we must
