The International Mother Language Day was observed on Wednesday in Kolkata and West Bengal.
The observance began on Tuesday evening. Kolkata’s mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya spoke at a cultural event where 200 artists from both Bengals participated. He said the new generation should promise to speak and write letters in Bangla. Other cultural programs were held throughout Wednesday in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, Urdu-speaking people took out a procession on Wednesday in Kolkata to press for recognition of the language as the second official one in West Bengal. Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu (society for promotion of Urdu) organized the rally in Kolkata. They want Urdu language to be recognized as the second official language in four areas of West Bengal where more than 20 per cent of the population spoke Urdu. They said that in 1981, former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had given them that assurance.
Gautam Gupta has more on the story.
