Renowned Bengali writer Amar Mitra said that language is the primary force of identity of any nation or community. File | Photo credit: The Hindu
On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, people associated with the written word in Kolkata said that human identity must be defined by language, not religion, and that even Bangladesh, where this particular day originates, recently showed this by rejecting an Islamist party in elections.
“Language is the primary force of identity of any nation or community. People who lose their language lose their identity. They live under the identity of others, like addicts. When people are deprived of their mother tongue, they lose their self-respect. So February 21 (Mother Language Day) is a language festival. It reminds humanity that the mother tongue writer is as sacred and life-giving as the Bengali mother,” said Amar Matka Bengali.
“My mother tongue is Bangla and I speak for all mother tongues. Research shows that almost half of the world’s 6,000 languages are endangered, with one language disappearing every two weeks. When dominant languages suppress minority languages, alienation and separatism grow. India is a multilingual country. States have been reorganized along language lines. Not all languages then have to have the same human identity, we have to define the same human identity. to survive,” said Mr. Mitra.
It was on 21 February 1952 that several Bengalis in East Bengal (later Bangladesh) were shot dead during protests demanding that their language be given official status by Pakistan. The day has been observed worldwide since 2000; in India especially West Bengal celebrates the day with vigor, most of the educational institutions organize the event.
“With the current fashion of translating from one language to another, the inclination to language – and language day – has become more pronounced. The beauty of India today lies in its many doors of truth and faith that intertwine languages. People are now more rooted in their native languages as part of their long journey to freedom. Education for generations among Indians has given them the power to harness whatever strength of culture and language New Sareepang, Principaldeypori, College and a poet himself, he said.
Ashok Singh of the West Bengal Hindi Speakers’ Society pointed out that Bangladesh was the first nation in the world to be named after a language, and that the country exemplified that it was language, more than religion, that held people together.
“There, fanatics attacked the very history of the country’s independence; they smashed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house, but in the end the people rejected the Islamists in the general election. That is the power of language,” said retired Professor Singh.
According to Satarupa Basu Ghosh, who was a journalist in English and Bengali, today’s Language Day has a special significance for the regional languages of India. “English may still unite the world, but for a long time this very English has been adapted to suit regional dialects. As far as a purely regional language is concerned, its importance is growing day by day. Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp, which won the International Booker Prize last year (2025), is the greatest example of the triumph of a regional language on the world stage in recent times,” said G. Basu.
“In today’s world full of serious identity crises and intolerance, where human beings are throwing bombs at each other, language is perhaps the only marker of identity left marginalized and victimized. In another parallel world, you kill people’s language and erase their existence,” she said.
Published – 21 Feb 2026 18:06 IST
