CM skips mention of Bangla turmoil on Bhasha Diwas
Times of India | 22 February 2025
123 Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, said, "Language Day belongs to everyone; language cannot be anyone's property." But, she chose to stay away from referring to the ongoing turmoil in Bangladesh.
At the annual event held at Deshapriya Park, Banerjee, while paying tributes to the ‘language martyrs' of Feb 21, said: "It is not appropriate to speak about any country. We should speak about our own country and language. The soil of Bengal is golden. Bengali is not just spoken by us, it is spoken worldwide. In Asia, Bengali is the second largest spoken language. May our language create more storms, may it flourish further. Love Bengali, love the country, love humanity."
Banerjee reminded attendees at the event that although Bengali is the mother tongue of the majority of people in Bengal, the state govt has recognised several other languages like Kuruk, Sadri, Alchiki, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Kurmali among other languages, and she offered best wishes to all residents speaking those languages as well. "Even though it was late, Bengali received recognition as a classical language," she said, thanking education minister Bratya Basu for his efforts in managing the recognition.
The event started at 4.30 pm with prayers offered to the late singer Pratul Mukhopadhyay as every guest, poet, singer, and dais member remembered his contribution. Vivek Kumar, additional chief secretary for land and land reforms dept, started the programme by singing Mukhopadhyay's "Aami Banglar Gaan Gaai" before poet Joy Goswami read out a poem called ‘Bangla' by the late poet Bhaskar Chakraborty.
An emotional CM was seen wiping tears as she started speaking about Mukhopadhyay and said he was very much with them with his legendary song even when he is physically not there anymore.
"I met him 48 hours before his death. He didn't respond for two days. I went to see him and tried to speak to him. Believe it or not, he opened his eyes and they were filled with tears. I told him, ‘Pratulda, you have to sing, you have to live'. Hearing my voice, his blood pressure dropped. I pressed his fingers and spoke to him softly. He gestured that he couldn't sing anymore. He was hospitalised many times before, and I had a faint hope that he might recover this time, too. Wherever he is, I feel he is listening to everyone here. Even if he is not in this world, he will always have a place in our heart," Banerjee said.
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