Summary
The event was witnessed by the AIMK family and other representatives from United Business World, Procam etc
The session commenced with a warm welcome message from Dr Abhishek Kumar, Principal, AIMK explaining the importance and impact of language on our lives
Army Institute of Management, Kolkata (AIMK) hosted a chat session as “Bhasha Adda with HE Mr Andalib Elias, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh” at its Rajarhat Campus on 26 Feb 2024 to commemorate sacrifice of all language martyrs and to earmark it as a symbol of rеsiliеncе; as we renew our commitment to preserving our linguistic heritage.
The event was witnessed by the AIMK family and other representatives from United Business World, Procam etc.
The session commenced with a warm welcome message from Dr Abhishek Kumar, Principal, AIMK explaining the importance and impact of language on our lives.
Dr Debaleena Chatterjee and Dr Sayan Palit interacted with HE Mr. Andalib Elias all through the session. Mr Elias explained the history of Bhasha Andolan that had happened in 1952. He also reminisced about the persons who approached UNESCO for the first time in 1999 and paved the way for 21 February to be considered as International Mother Language Day. He added that it is important to them that all mother languages of the world get equal importance when asked to share his views on the significance of International Mother Language Day. Mr Elias shared his childhood memories that he had heard from his grandfather about the Bhasha Andolan of 1952.
The session was driven through students’ participants as well. One of our students presented a Bengali song on stage and a few students greeted the event in their own mother language like Telugu, Malayalam, Odia etc.
Dr Sayan Palit discussed other language movements that happened in India in 1961 (Silchar) and 1965 (Tamil Nadu). He also touched upon the linguistic movements still happening in various places of the world like South Africa, Norway, Ireland, Nepal etc.
On asking how Bangladesh traditionally observes International Mother Language Day, both domestically and within diplomatic missions abroad, Mr Elias said it is one of the biggest non-religious events celebrated in Bangladesh with the Probhat Pheri early morning.
Dr Debaleena Chatterjee discussed how this day is being observed by the Indian Bengalis of the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Tripura and the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Dr Debaleena Chatterjee presented a beautiful Bengali poem “Banglar dhanuker chhilay chhilay joto taan” penned by Kabir Suman which was also recited by Dr Sayan Palit in English. Dr Palit also presented another Bengali poem “Unishe May Aar Ekushe February” penned by Mr Amitabh Dasgupta.
Mr Elias said that Bangla is being used extensively in Bangladesh even while passing verdict in judiciaries but for the sake of case studies by other countries these are translated in English as well and the same is applicable to students moving out of Bangladesh for their higher education when asked about the usability of Bangla in the Judiciaries or Higher education in Bangladesh
Mr Elias expressed his interest in watching Indian Bengali Entertainment contents and also contents in other languages like Japanese, Arabic, Korean, and Iranian etc.
Lastly the audience was graced by a poem of Mr Sukumar Roy recited by Mr Elias on stage.
Last updated on 29 Feb 2024
