Bangla losing out to foreign language
Paying tribute to the language heroes only on 21st February does not imply that we are patriots or we love our mother tongue. Language lies at the root of culture and even history. The way the number of English medium schools are increasing day by day, I am afraid that our young generation will lose their cultural and historical moorings. They are becoming familiar with Shakespeare and Bacon more than Tagore and Kazi Nazrul.
Again, a person who speaks and writes English well is given priority in job sector. Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah said that Bangla literature was resourceful once, but day by day it is losing its position. It is because of our bias towards a foreign language. If this trend continues, we will observe 21st February every year but we will never understand the value of Ekushey February and our Mother Tongue. So as long as we can't understand the importance of Bangla in our life, we will fail to show proper tribute to the martyrs of our Language Movement.
Ripu Sen
International Islamic University Chittagong
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