Latest News | Granting Classical Language Status to Bengali Has Been Overdue: Researchers
Get latest articles and stories on Latest News at LatestLY. Speakers at a literary meet in the city have expressed happiness over the decision of the Centre to accord classical language status to Bengali language saying it was long overdue.
Kolkata, Nov 19 (PTI) Speakers at a literary meet in the city have expressed happiness over the decision of the Centre to accord classical language status to Bengali language saying it was long overdue.
During a discussion on the classical language status of Bengali language, one of the several curated sessions at the three-day Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsob (ABSU), the Director of Institute for Language Studies and Research (ILSR) Swati Guha said many people believed that 1000-year old Charyapada scripts, extolling Buddhism religion, marked the beginning of the origin of Bengali language.
"We gave the proposal to undertake research. We were of the view that if other languages like Odia and Assamese can be granted classical status despite showing the same Charyapada as the benchmark why should Bengali be left out? We, led by our government and Education Minister Bratya Basu used to take up the issue on the International Mother Language Day every year," she recalled.
ILS had been actively involved in the move in demanding classical language status for Bengali.
Many researchers and academics from across the globe joined the effort to prove Bengal's usage as a language in the ancient days and the recognition came, she said.
The Charyapada was written in Bengali script and some of the writers belonged to the 8th century,
Amitava Das, one of the researchers from the 'Institute of Language Studies', said.
The researchers showed that even the conversational Bengali languages dated back more than 1000 years showing its ancient character.
Popular Bengali writer Pracheta Gupta said he is proud that the Bengali language has one step in the classical mould while the other step is steeped in contemporariness.
The 10th Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsob (ABSU), curated by Oxford Bookstores, was held from November 15 to 17.
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