বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (প্রথম খণ্ড)/২১
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| গণপরিষদের অধিবেশনে বাংলা ভাষাকে অন্তর্ভুক্তকরণের প্রশ্নে বির্তক | পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ | ২৫শে ফেব্রুয়ারী ১৯৪৮ |
Mr. Dliirendranath Datta. (East Bengal: General)
Mr. President, Sir, I move:
"That in sub-rule (1) of rule 29, after the word “English" in line 2, the words “or Bengalee" be inserted."
Sir, in moving this - the motion that stands in my name - I can assure the House that I do so not in a spirit of narrow Provincialism, but, sir, in the spirit that this motion receives the fullest consideration at the hands of the members. I know, Sir, that Bengalee is a provincial language, but, so far our state is concerned, it is the language of the majority of the people of the state. So although it is a provincial language but, as it is a language of the majority of the people of the state and it stands on a different footing therefore. Out of six crores and ninety lakhs of people inhabiting this State, 4 crores and 40 lakhs of people speak the Bengalee language. So, Sir, what should be the State language of the State? The State language of the state should be the language which is used by the majority of the people of the State, and for that, Sir, I consider that Bengalee language is a lingua franca of our State.
I know, Sir, I voice the sentiments of the vast millions of our State. In the meantime I want to let the House know the feelings of the vastest millions of our State. Even, Sir, in the Eastern Pakistan where the people numbering four crores and forty lakhs speak the Bengalee language the common man even if he goes to a Post Office and wants to have a money order form finds that the money order is printed in Urdu language and is not printed in Bengalee language or it is printed in English. A poor cultivator, who has got his son, Sir, as a student in the Dacca University and who wants to send money to him, goes to a village Post Office and he asks for a money order form, finds that the money order form is printed in Urdu language. He cannot send the money order but shall have to rush to a distant town and have this money order form translated for him and then the money order, Sir, that is necessary for his boy can be sent. The poor cultivator, Sir, sells a certain plot of land or a poor cultivator purchases a plot of land and goes to the Stamp vendor and pays him money but cannot say whether he has received the value of the money in Stamps. The value of the Stamp, Sir, is written not in Bengalee but is written in Urdu and English. But he cannot say, Sir, whether he has got the real value of the Stamp. These are the difficulties experienced by the Common man of our State. The language of the State should be such which can be understood by the common man of the State. The Common man of the State numbering four crores and forty millions find that the proceeding of this Assembly which is their mother of parliaments is being conducted in a language, Sir, which is unknown to them. Then, Sir, English has got an honored place, Sir, in Rule 29. I know, Sir, English has got an honored place because of the International Character. 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 have a State language-the language which would be used between the different parts of Pakistan for inter-provincial Communications. Then, Sir, it is not only the population you have to take into consideration. There are so many other factors. Urdu can be the only language which can keep the people of East Bengal or Eastern Zone and the people of Western Zone joined together. It is necessary for a nation to have one language and that language can only be Urdu and no other language.
Therefore, Sir, I am sorry I cannot agree to the amendment which has been moved. As a matter of fact, when the notice of that amendment was given, I thought that the object was an innocent one. The object to include Bengalee was that in case there are some people who are not proficient in English or Urdu might express their views in that language, but I find now that the object is not such an innocent one as I thought it was. The object of this amendment is to create a rift between the people of Pakistan. The object of this amendment is to take away from the Mussalmans that unifying force that brings them together.
Mr. Bhupendra Kumar Datta (East Bengal: General): Sir, we press this amendment in no frivolous spirit of opposition. I am surprised at the speech the Honorable the Leader of the House has just made. I wish he had not made some of the remarks he chose to make. They will have unfortunate repercussions elsewhere even in certain sections in Pakistan. Therefore it is all the more necessary that this amendment should be pressed.
I tour frequently in the part of the country to which I belong and I know the strength of the feeling there over this matter. Bengalee is the language of the overwhelming majority there, it is the only language spoken and understood there. It is also the language of the overwhelming majority of the entire State of Pakistan. I find in this House, sometimes a tendency to emulate or to draw parallels to things that happen in the other Union. Even yesterday, when the discussion on the question of redistribution of seats was going on, my friend Mr. Datta, was interrupted and asked: “What was taking place in the Indian Dominion?” But in this vital matter there is departure. In the Indian Union, they have adopted the language of the largest single section of population.
Several voices: question, question.
Mr. Bhupendra Kumar Datta: But here we are adopting Urdu. Urdu is not the language of any of the provinces constituting the Dominion of Pakistan. It is the language of the upper few of Western Pakistan. This opposition to the amendment proves an effort, a determined effort on the part of the upper few of Western Pakistan at dominating the State of Pakistan...
This is certainly not a tendency towards democracy: it is a tendency towards domination of the upper few of a particular region of the State. We are not yet pressing it to be the lingua franca of the State. We are merely demanding that it to be included as one of the three languages to be permitted here. Even the language, which unfortunately I am speaking at the moment - the English language-which remains with us as a souvenir of slavery is given a place of honor, but not the language of the common people, the majority of the common people. That is pity... The Honourable Khwaja Nazimuddin (East Bengal: Muslim): Sir, I feel it my duty to let the House know what the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the people of Eastern Pakistan over this question of Bengalee language is. I think, there will be no contradiction if I say that as far as inter communication between the provinces and the centre is concerned, they feel that Urdu is the only language that can be adopted. But there is a very strong feeling that the medium of instruction should be Bengali in Educational Institutions and as far as the administration of the province is concerned, the language used in administering the province should also be Bengalee. I am glad to find that the Hon'ble the Leader of the House has made it clear that there is no question of ousting Bengalee from the province and I am sure that the overwhelming majority of the people are in favor of having Urdu as the State Language for the Pakistan State as a whole.
There is another point which I would like to correct. The previous speakers who have supported this amendment have made out that Hindi is the language of the majority of the people in the other Dominion. That, I think, is not correct. As far as Madras. Bombay, CP., Orissa, are concerned, in these provinces. Hindi is not their mother tongue. I think, I can state that even in U.P., the majority of the people in that province speak Urdu and those who advocated Hindi, find it very difficult to make a fluent speech in Hindi in the Assembly or in public meetings. So, Hindi is not the mother tongue of all the provinces in the Indian Dominion and yet Hindi has been accepted as the state language there. Therefore, on that analogy, Sir, there is no ground for supporting theory that Bengalee should be the state language of Pakistan, but I do feel very strongly over the question of language as far as the province of Bengal is concerned.
I would raise the question in proper time and like to press the case that so far as general administration and Government business in the provincial sphere is concerned. the language to be used should be Bengalee within Bengal.
Mr. Sris Chandra Chattopadhyaya (East Bengal: General): Mr. President, Sir, it pains me to hear the Hon'ble the Leader of the House when he says that Pakistan is a Muslim State. So long my idea was that Pakistan is the Peoples' State and it belongs to the Muslims as well as to the non-Muslims. If today the statement of the Honorable the Leader to the House is accepted that it is a matter of serious consideration for the non- Muslims whether they have any right to take any part in the framing of the constitution as well. That is really very important question because in that case, Muslims only, and it is desirable, should frame their own constitution. I have already told you and told this House that so long in my speeches I asserted to the people of my part of the country that the Pakistan is not merely a Muslim state but it is a state of the Muslims as well as that of non-Muslims, i.e., it is people's state. That is a matter, I desire the Honorable the Leader of the House to clarify so that in future we may decide our line of action and know our position also in the state.
Here the amendment says-it never said about the state language-how the proceedings of the House are to be conducted. There is mention of Urdu as well as English. He only wants to add Bengalee. If the House accepts, well and good but so far as lingua franca is concerned, it is not a point at issue today but even if it is made Urdu, I have no objection to accept it but nobody knows Urdu. We learned English and now we shall learn Urdu, if necessary.
I myself tried to learn Urdu with my Honorable friend, Mr. Tamizuddin Ahmad, when we were in Jail, but out of jail I have forgotten it. (Laughter) So the conducting of proceedings of this House is quite a different thing from the selection of lingua franca. His amendment is as to how the proceedings of this House are to be conducted? In Urdu, in English or in Bengali? That is the only point raised by this amendment, and I am sure that by moving this amendment, he has done nothing to incur the displeasure of the Honorable the Leader of the House. With these words, I supported the amendment.........
"Mr. Tamizuddin Khan: Sir, I have very little to add to what has already been said against the amendment moved by my Honorable friend, Mr. Datta. One thing that has been said by the Honorable the acting Leader of the Congress Party here seems to me to be of some importance. He said that the Honorable the Leader of the House in the course of his speech stated that this is a Muslim state and his apprehension is that if that is so. where the minorities are. So far as that question is concerned, you, Sir, made it clear on the very first day and it has been made clear from a thousand platforms that all minorities in Pakistan will enjoy equal rights with the majority. They will have the same rights as the majority has. That position, I think, remains unaltered. The Honorable the Leader of the House has called it a Muslim State. There are people who call India a Hindu State. We call Turkey a Muslim country and also Egypt a Muslim country. But does that mean that there are no non-Muslims in those countries? So far as America is concerned, till recently, all Indians, irrespective of the fact whether they were Hindus or Muslims or Parsees or Christians, were called Hindus. The substance of the thing does not depend upon the name. It is absolutely clear, as clear as anything can be, that every citizen of Pakistan, who is loyal to Pakistan, has the same rights and privileges.
So far as the other question is concerned, I do not want to add anything to what has already been said.
Sir, I cannot accept the amendment.
Mr. President: The question is: “That in sub-rule (1) of rule 29, after the word 'English' in line 2, the word 'Bengalee' be inserted."
The motion was negatived.