Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi, seeks classical language tag for Bengali
Bengali as Classical language: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recognise Bengali as a classical language because it has 'qualified' for the Centre's criteria.
In her letter to the Prime Minister, Banerjee presented a research document that claimed to meet all four criteria established by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"I take this opportunity to present before you a summary (kindly see enclosure) of a scholarly work undertaken by us in 4 volumes, which dates the origin of `Bangla' and Bengali language to the 3rd-4th BCE. In sum, the research shows that our is a classical language with roots in antiquity, and we seek its recognition as such," Banerjee said.
She went on to say that, in addition to being the national language of a country (Bangladesh), an official language of our state, and India's second most spoken language, it is also the world's seventh most spoken language.
"The Bengali people have a rich heritage and culture dating back to pre-historic times. There had always been claims about the antiquity of the Bengali language, but concrete research was not present to scientifically substantiate the claim. Now, I am happy to present concrete evidence-based research to prove that Bengali as a language existed, even in writing, as early as, 3rd-4th BCE," the West Bengal CM said in the letter.
She also expressed confidence that the Prime Minister would appreciate the scholarly work presented by the West Bengal government and ensure that Bengali receives the recognition it deserves.
Currently, only six languages are considered 'classical': Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, and
Odia. Tamil was the first to be granted the status in 2004, following a long-standing demand from Dravidian parties, and Odia was added to the list in 2014.
According to the Centre's guidelines, a language must meet certain criteria to be classified as 'classical'. They include the high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over 1500-2000 years; a body of ancient literature/texts that generations of speakers regard as a valuable heritage; a literary tradition that is original and not borrowed from another speech community; and being distinct from modern, with no discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or offshoots.
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