GG News Bureau
Kolkata, 4th Oct. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her delight on Friday following the Centre’s decision to accord classical language status to Bengali. Her government had actively worked over the past few years to submit the necessary documents to support this claim.
In a key announcement made by the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bengali, along with Assamese, Marathi, Pali, and Prakrit, was declared a classical language on Thursday.
While inaugurating the Ekdalia Evergreen Durga Puja in Kolkata, Banerjee stated, “Bengali is the fifth most-spoken language in the world. We are happy that our language has been given the recognition it deserves.”
She noted, “Bengali had been neglected for years, but it was me who took the initiative to take up the issue of classical language status with the Centre, by writing a letter. Our government sent large volumes of documents to back our claim.”
Immediately following the Centre’s announcement, Banerjee took to X, formerly Twitter, to share her happiness, stating, “Most happy to share that Bengali/Bangla has been finally accorded the status of a classical language by the Government of India. We had been trying to snatch this recognition from the Ministry of Culture, GOI, and we had submitted three volumes of research findings in favour of our contention.”
She further added, “The Union government has accepted our well-researched claim today evening, and we finally reach the cultural apex in the body of languages in India.”
The central government emphasized that classical languages serve as custodians of Bharat’s profound and ancient cultural heritage, encapsulating the essence of each community’s historical and cultural milestones.
In a statement, the Centre noted that the inclusion of Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bengali in the classical language category is expected to create significant employment opportunities, especially in academic and research fields. Furthermore, the preservation, documentation, and digitization of ancient texts in these languages will generate jobs in archiving, translation, publishing, and digital media.
The concept of classical languages was first established on October 12, 2004, when the Government of India declared Tamil as a classical language and set specific criteria for granting this status. Subsequent languages, including Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia, were also recognized as classical languages based on their rich literary traditions and historical significance.
The post ‘A Recognition It Deserves’: Banerjee Celebrates Bengali’s Classical Language Status appeared first on Global Governance News- Asia's First Bilingual News portal for Global News and Updates.
