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Bangla as UN official language
Ripan Kumar Biswas
It was obvious to see raised eyebrow of the other customers as we had a loud conversation at a busy Starbucks coffee shop in Midtown Manhattan, New York in the last Saturday night. We felt chagrined exceedingly while we noticed two girls were approaching toward us. But they altered our assumption and asked in which language we were taking. We felt proud while they commented on our language: "It sounds so sweet guys, carry on."
Every language matters as it is important to bridge differences. Languages are indeed essential to the identity of groups and individuals, and to their peaceful coexistence. They constitute a strategic factor of progress towards sustainable development, and a harmonious relationship between the global and the local context. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing the tangible and intangible heritage. Every language has the right to be regarded as actual, existing organism.
Considering the rich heritage of Bangla (Bengali) language, its historical background as it is the identity of a nation, its importance in the global arena, its singular place as a symbol of people's faith in the power of languages to sustain cultures, or the number of people who speak in this language, prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina called for the United Nations to adopt Bangla as one of its official languages, which is spoken by 250 million people worldwide. "I seek support of the UN member-states to get recognition of Bangla as an official language of the United Nations," she said in an address before the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday, September 26, 2009.
In theory, every country who is a member of the UN has the right to request that their language be allowed for official usage.
An international organization must have effective ways to overcome language barriers to avoid becoming a Tower of Babel. Since almost every country in the world is represented at the United Nations, it is not an exaggeration to say that the United Nation is a microcosm of the world. The Organization uses six official languages in its intergovernmental meetings and documents, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The languages were decided by the General Assembly where all countries took part and it could also add or subtract languages in the future. And to add or subtract any language is relatevely associated with budgetary reasons, humanitarian reasons, practical issues, and of course with historical background.
Budgetary reasons because it is very expensive to publish, translate, and interpret into multiple languages, keeping in mind that the additional cost for each new language is exponential because for each language we add, we must translate into it and from it for all of the other languages. Humanitarian reasons because the UN has a very restricted budget even much smaller than that of New York City and the money that it would need to spend in order to use more languages is money that it and its member States would not be able to spend on development and humanitarian work. Adding a new language is also a practical issue to facilite the work of the UN rather than to increase the beauty of the charter of UNO. And finally, historical background of a language if it represnts the oldest and most influential civilizations of the World.
Bengalees are an ancient people, tracing history back to 1600 BC. In historical times, Bangladesh was ruled some times by dynasties from northern South Asia, and some times by independent rulers. During the Medieval Period (1200-1757), Persian, the language of the new Muslim rulers in India (including Bangladesh) became official language, as also the medium of instructions. The Muslim rulers also encouraged vernacular education in various regions relevant to the mother languages. As a matter of fact, Bangla as a language got a fillip from the patrons of the Hossian Shahi Dynasty.
Bangla is the mother language of the dominant majority of the population of Bangladesh, and is also the state. It evolved from Prakrit language which again was an off-shoot of Sanskrit language. Bangla is also the dominant language of West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Assam states and Andaman Islands of India. Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore won Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 for his Bangla poetic work, Gitanjali.
Though UNO is yet to accept Bangla as it is official language, but its pertinent to mention here that the UNESCO has paid tribute to the sacrifice of martyrs for Bangla language movement of 1952, by way of proclaiming 21 February the Mother Language Martyrs Day, as "International Mother Language Day" to be observed every year in all the UN member states and at UNESCO Head Quarters. On May 16, 2007, to encourage all of its partners to increase and reinforce their activities in favor of the promotion and protection of all languages, particularly endangered ones, in all individual and collective contexts, the UNGA proclaimed 2008 to be the International Year of Languages and formally recognized the observance of the International Mother Language Day. In last year's UNGA session, a resolution seeking to recognize Bangla was cosponsored by 124 nations but it was yet to get the acknowledgement.
According to Ethnologue (a web and print publication of languages of the World" that contains statistics for 7,358 languages in the 16th edition, released in 2009), Bangla is the sixth most spoken language in the world while two other UN official languages Russian and French stand eight and fifteen position respectively.
Emphasizing the urgency of rebuilding a world order with equitable opportunities for all in the global village, Bangladesh always upholds the charter of UN charter since its joining in UNO on September 17, 1974. It urges member nations to adopt common global strategies for tackling the grim challenges stemming from climate change, economic turmoil, and terrorism at this turning-point in the human history. On the score of ensuring peace throughout the world, Bangladesh is proud of its outstanding role as a major troop-contributing country, serving the United Nations in maintaining peace and security worldwide. Sierra Leone accorded Bangla the status of second state language out of gratitude to Bangladeshi blue helmet soldiers in UN peach keeping mission in the civil war torn African country.
To further strengthen her appeal, Sheikh Hasina referred to a recent parliamentary resolution adopted by Bangladesh Parliament to request the UN to acknowledge Bangla as an official language and in addition, she delivered her speech in Bangla and became the second Bangladeshi head of the government to speak in the language at the world body. Though different political parties and social organizations in Bangladesh have hailed Sheikh Hasina's attempt, but it needs active support and work beyond any political and personal interests. Apparently non-resident Bangladeshis across the world can double the initiative as they always play a pivotal role when country needs. Bangla Academy can do a lot consulting with the proper authority. The well-known Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus can be an ideal person to draw the attention of the member nations of UN to fulfill this dream as he himself is an institute across the globe.
People, who love the diversity of language, are more likely to be for the addition of more languages. In order to facilitate the mission of the UN, there should be more standardization because they can not allow themselves to be caught up on little details like language. The languages used by the UN should reflect the countries involvement with its mission. Today or tomorrow, UN is likely to add a 7th official language in the list.
To become a strong candidate, Bangladesh should start extensive and intensive consultations with the 192 member states and make immediate diplomatic moves to seek the status of official language for Bangla at the United Nations.
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