What Jinnah said clearly relegated Bengali to the status of a regional language. That must have been difficult for Bengali nationalists to swallow. [Ali Arqam]
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Dear Arqam Sahab

That’s happen when we place Jinnah on Allah’s Pedestal and assume “that Jinnah couldn’t do anything wrong”.

You dont run a Federation like you have as mentioned below:

Keep in mind while reading the post that major founders of All India Muslim League wwere Bengalis. The founding meeting of the League was held on 30 December 1906 at the occasion of the annual All India Muhammadan Educational Conference in Shahbagh, Dhaka that was hosted by Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah. The Pakistan Resolution was presented by A. K. Fazlul Huq [A Bengali Muslim and who was later declared Anti State when Pakistan went into the hands of vultures and here goes your declaration of awarding death penalty to those who oppose Pakistan – who will decide the definition of Loyalty and Patriotism? If Mullahs then barring three Mullahs every Mullah in United India had opposed Pakistan by tooth and nail and later on Majority of such Rascals ended up in Pakistan e.g. Mawdudi and Jamat-e-Islami.

September 15, 1947

Tamuddun Majlis (Cultural Society, an organization by scholars, writers and journalists oriented towards Islamic ideology) in a booklet titled State Language of Pakistan : Bengali or Urdu? demands Bengali as one of the state language of Pakistan.

The Secretary of the Majlis, at that time a Professor of Physics in Dhaka University, [Abul Kashem] was the first person to convene a literary meeting to discuss the State Language issue in the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, a student residence of Dhaka University. Supporters and sympathizers soon afterwards formed a political party, the Khilafate-Rabbani Party with Abul Hasim as the Chairman. (Talukder Maniruzzaman)

November 1947

In Karachi, the representatives of East Bengal attending the Pakistan Educational Conference, called by the Minister of Education Fazlur Rahman, a Bengali, oppose Urdu as the only national language.

February 23, 1948 [Jinnah was alive]

Direndra Nath Dutta, a Bengali opposition member, moves a resolution in the first session of Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly for recognizing Bengali as a state language along with Urdu and English. The resolution “… was opposed by Liakat Ali, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and other non-Bengali members in the Assembly. Regrettably, this was opposed by Khawaja Nazimuddin – hailing from the eastern wing – and a few other Bengali collaborators of the West Pakistanis in the Assembly. Later, D. N. Dutta came up with a few amendments to the original resolution, and everytime these were opposed by the west Pakistanis and their Bengali stooges. The West Pakistanis were uncompromising to such a genuine demand of the majority Bengalis.” (Rafiqul Islam)

“The demand for Bengali as one of the state language gathered the spontaneous support of the Bengali Civil Servants, academics, students, and various groups of middle class. Several members of the Provincial Assembly, including some ministers, were reportedly active in supporting the movement. By the end of February 1948, the controversy had spilled over on the streets. The East Pakistan Student League, founded in the first week of January by Mujibur Rahman, was in the forefront of the agitation.” (– Hasan Zaheer)

March 1948 (1st week) [Jinnah was alive]

A Committee of Action of the students of Dhaka University, representing all shades of opinion – leftists, rightists, and centrists – is set up with the objective of achieving national status of Bengali.

March 11, 1948 [Jinnah was alive]

Students demonstrating for Bangla as state language is baton-charged and a large number of students are arrested in Dhaka.

” The situation grew worse in the days that followed. The Quaid-i-Azam was due to visit Dhaka from 19 March. The provincial government became nervous and Nazimuddin under pressure of widespread agitation, the impending visit of the Governor-General, sought the help of Muhammad Ali Bogra to enter into negotiations with the Committee of Action. An agreement was signed by Nazimuddin with the Committee which, inter alia, provided that

(1) the Provincial Assembly shall adopt a resolution for making Bengali the official language of East Pakistan and the medium of instruction at all stages of education;

and

(2) the Assembly by another resolution would recommend to the central government that Bengali should be made one of the state languages.” (– Hasan Zaheer)

March 21, 1948 [Jinnah was alive]

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first Governor-General, while on a visit to East Bengal, declares in Dhaka University convocation that while the language of the province can be Bengali, the “State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Any one who tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan.”

“The remark evoked an angry protest from the Bengali youth who took it as an affront: their language Bangla (Bengali) was, after all, spoken by fifty-four percent of the population of Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then a university student, was among those who raised the protest slogan and was placed under detention. The Dacca University campus became the focal point for student meetings in support of the Bangla language.” (–Siddiq Salik)

Jinnah meets the student representatives of Committee of Action to persuade them of the necessity of having one national language, but the students are not convinced.

“The discussion of Jinnah with the student representatives could not bear any fruit but blurred the difference between the student group led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his associates and the student group led by Shah Azizur Rahman. The National leadership resorted to repressive policies in order to crush the Bengali language and put its supporters behind bars.” (– Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan)

2nd Wave

January 26, 1952

The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan announces its recommendation that Urdu should be the only state language. In a public meting at Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, Prime Minister Nazimuddin declares that Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan. Both the developments spark off the second wave of language agitation in East Bengal.

January 28, 1952

The students of Dhaka University in a protest meeting call the Prime Minister and the Provincial Ministers as stooges of West Pakistan.

January 30, 1952

In a secret meeting called by the Awami League, which is attended by a number of communist front as well as other organizations, it is agreed that the language agitation can not be successfully carried by the students alone. To mobilize full political and student support, it is decided that the leadership of the movement should be assumed by the Awami League under Bhashani.

January 31, 1952

Bhashani presides over an all-party convention in Dhaka. The convention is attended by prominent leaders like Abul Hashim and Hamidul Haq Choudhury. A broad-based All-Party Committee of Action (APCA) is constituted with Kazi Golam Mahboob as Convener and Maulana Bhashani as Chairman, and with two representatives from the Awami League, Students League, Youth League, Khilafate-Rabbani Party, and the Dhaka University State Language Committee of Action.

February 3, 1952

Committee of Action holds a protest meeting in Dhaka against the move ‘to dominate the majority province of East Bengal linguistically and culturally’. The provincial chief of Awami League, Maulana Bhashani addresses the meeting. On the suggestion of Abul Hashim it decides to hold a general strike on 21 February, when the East Bengal Assembly is due to meet for its budget session.

February 20, 1952

At 6 p.m. an order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code prohibiting processions and meetings in Dhaka City is promulgated. This order generated tension and resentment among the students.

February 21, 1952

A general strike is observed.

Noon – A meeting is held in the campus of Dhaka University. Students decide to defy the official ban imposed by Nurul Amin’s administration and processions are taken out to stage a demonstration in front of the Provincial Assembly. Police starts lobbing tear gas shells to the students. Students retaliate by batting bricks. The ensuing riot spreads to the nearby campuses of the Medical and Engineering colleges.

4 p.m. -The police opens fire in front of the Medical College hostel. Five persons – Mohammad Salauddin, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat, Rafiquddin Ahmed and Abdus Salam – are killed, the first three are students of Dhaka University.

“The news of the killing spread like wildfire throughout the city and people rushed in thousands towards the Medical College premises.” (– Talukder Maniruzzaman)

Inside the assembly, six opposition members press for the adjournment of the House and demand an inquiry into the incidents. But Chief Minister Nurul Amin urges the House to proceed with the planned agenda for the day. At this point all the opposition members of the Assembly walk out in protest.

February 22, 1952

Thousands of men and women throng the university, Medical College and Engineering College areas to offer prayers for the victims of the police firing. After prayers when they go for a procession, the police opens fire.

The police also fire on angry mob who burned the offices of a pro-government newspaper. Four persons are killed.

As the situation deteriorates, the government calls in the military to bring things under control. Bowing to the pressure, the Chief Minister Nurul Amin moves a motion recommending to the Constituent Assembly that Bengali should be one of the state language of Pakistan. The motion is passed unanimously.

“For the first time a number of Muslim members voted in favour of the amendments moved by the opposition, which so far had consisted of the Hindu Congress members only. The split in the Muslim League became formalized when some members demanded a separate bloc from the Speaker; the Awami (Muslim) League had attained the status of an opposition parliamentary party.” (– Hasan Zaheer)

February 23, 1952

A complete general strike is spontaneously observed, despite the resolution by the Provincial Assembly. The government again responds with repressive measures. APCA decides to observe a general strike on February 25 to protest the government’s actions.

The students of Medical College erect overnight a Shahid Minar (Martyr’s Memorial) at the place where Barkat was shot to commemorate the supreme sacrifices of the students and general population. Shahid Minar later became the rallying symbol for the Bengalis.

February 24, 1952

The government gives full authority to the police and military to bring the situation in Dhaka back to normal within 48 hours.

“During these 48 hours the police arrested almost all the student and political leaders associated with the language movement.” (– Talukder Muniruzzaman)

February 25, 1952

The Dhaka University is closed sine die. “In the face of these repressive measures, the movement lost its momentum in Dhaka. But it spread widely throughout the districts … In addition to demands for recognition of Bengali as one of state languages of Pakistan, students now began to call for the resignation of the ‘bloody’ Nurul Amin cabinet … Nurul Amin claimed that the government “had saved the province from disaster and chaos” by its repressive measures. The students, however, argued that they had already “written the success story of the movement on the streets with their blood.” In retrospect, whatever the merits of government and student actions, it is clear that the movement did sow the seeds of a secular-linguistic Bengali nationalism in east Bengal. Its immediate impact was to prepare the ground for the complete routing of the Muslim League in the 1954 elections by a United Front of opposition political parties, on a nationalistic planck of cultural, political and economic autonomy for East Bengal.” (– Talukder Maniruzzaman)

“The Language Movement added a new dimension to politics in Pakistan. It left deep impression on the minds of the younger generation of Bengalis and imbued them with the spirit of Bengali nationalism. The passion of Bengali nationalism which was aroused by the Language Movement shall kindle in the hearts of the Bengalis forever … Perhaps very few people realised then that with the bloodshed in 1952 the new-born state of Pakistan had in fact started to bleed to death.” (– Rafiqul Islam)

Results

May 7, 1954

The Pakistan government recognizes Bangla as a state language.

Feb 26, 1956

The Constituent Assembly passes the first Constitution of Pakistan recognizing Bangla as a State Language.

March 23, 1956

The first Constitution of Pakistan comes into effect.

The minders in Rawalpindi often project that ‘the only free and fair elections’ in the history of Pakistan were held by a President-General, Yahya Khan. This is historically inaccurate. If the 1970 elections turned out to be fair, they were by default not by design.

According to a senior intelligence officer, Yahya Khan had delegated N.A. Rizvi (Director Intelligence Bureau) to weaken Mujib in the East by funding Bhashani. Maj-General Ghulam Umar (Chief of National Security Council) collected funds from big businessmen and industrialists in the West to ‘cut Bhutto to size’ by financing Qayum Khan.

Later, Bhutto as PM recovered some money from Rizvi and Gen. Umer was retired. (Rao Abdur Rasheed ‘Jo main ney dekha’ Atish Fishan Publications Lahore 1985 pp. 62-64).

Major General Abubakar Osman Mitha, the only Memon General of the Army reveals that in October/November 1970, in Karachi a leading businessman Mr Roshan Ali Bhimjee told him that DIB was asking for “political contributions” from the business community using foul and threatening language.

Gen. Mitha informed Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan (Chief of Staff) in Rawalpindi to respond to the charges, none other than Gen. Ghulam Umar turned up in COS’s office. (“Unlikely Beginnings” OUP 2003 pp.328-329)

After the elections, Yahya gave a tongue-lashing to the DIB, Rizvi who had all along been reporting that no single party would gain an absolute majority (in the East). (Hasan Zaheer “The separation of East Pakistan” OUP 2000 p 130).

Mr. Yusuf Haroon, then Chairman Pakistan Services Limited and brother of Agriculture Minister Mr. Mahmood Haroon, told the Political Officer, American Consulate General, at Peshawar on June 5, 1970 that generals Gul Hasan and (Ghulam) Umar told him that the military wanted to insure a divided vote and a fragmented Constituent Assembly to render the constitution- making impossible.

(Dispatch A-109 Airgram Department of State June 9, 1970 from Karachi “The American Papers” compiled by Roedad Khan OUP 2000 pp.372-375) [Declassified American Papers]

The Ultimate Result

March 26, 1971

Bangladesh becomes an independent nation.

Notes:

1- Hasan Zaheer, The Separation of East Pakistan – The Rise and Realization of Bengali Muslim Nationalism, Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan, 1994

2- Talukder Maniruzzaman, The Bangladesh Revolution and its Aftermath, Bangladesh Books International Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1980

3- Siddiq Salik, Witness to Surrender, Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan, 1977

4- Rafiqul Islam, A Tale of Millions, Ananna, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 3rd edition, 1986

5- Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, Emergence of Bangladesh and Role of Awami League, Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, India, 1982

By doing this Research Work we will be creating more jobs and work for those are interested in doing something literary and Translating Literary Treasure of Local Languages in Urdu and Vice versa would make people come closer. Making Urdu a National Language and using Islamic undertones to unite people of Pakistan won’t work.

People/students abroad [who speak english i.e. USA/UK] willingly opt Foreign Languages e.g. Spanish, Latin, French, Chinese and Arabic but Islamic? Democratic? Republic? of Comedy [Pakistan] thrust State Backed Propaganda like Third Reich down the throats of Pakistanis in the name of Text Books and create more Cattle Herd [even the CSS/Army Officers] instead of Civilized Citizens.

Concluding the role of Jinnah regarding this issue, I conclude it,
In the words of Dr. Mubarak Ali
“No doubt, Jinnah was a great leader of his people. He was a man of integrity and honesty, but to idealize him to such an extent as to preempt the emergence of another rank of leaders out of his shadow is strange. Every generation has its own dreams and vision which it wants to accomplish without interference. Not imitation but freedom is required to build a new world. Therefore, an attempt should not be made to repeat but to make new history. People should be liberated from the shadows and allowed to flourish in a free society. Great leaders should be respected but not worshipped.”
@Aamir
Let us focus main subject of the article….

Comments from the facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=327439401133

Yasser Latif Hamdani said
“Well it was a regional language. I think Jinnah overplayed the Muslim angle because he was tasked with the defence of the govt’s decision… The point I made in my article was that Bengali was not banned.
Urdu was the lingua franca which was spoken by the Salariat throughout North of British India whether separatists agree or not. Where it was in … See moredevnagri script it was Hindi …in Arabic script it was Urdu. Hindi/Urdu (or as Congress called it “Hindustani”) was language of all of middle class from Dacca to Peshawar. Furthermore the Urdu/Hindi jhagra of 1867 laid the foundations of TNT in Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Therefore Urdu was the bedrock of Muslim national consciousness. So all of the positions taken by Jinnah were in logical to that extent.
My own gripe is that it goes against Jinnah’s own positions against mono-cultural nationalism which was his logical position against Congress. Had he not used the arguments of Muslim nationalism and instead stuck to the lingua franca argument in a secular manner (which was his intention when he got Jagganath Azad to write Pakistan’s first national anthem), his position would be perfectly defensible. ”

Yadvendra Mehra said,
If I were an educated pakistani citizen,first of all would love my ethnic origins and feel proud of my roots so I would appriciate the acceptence of my identity ( with my language)as such, throughout the country,( not to feel embaressed about my non urdu/non punjabi/( so called)non elite origins).
So my mother tongue has to have a important status and enough usage to make it free from the danger of extinction.
But a comman language ( urdu) is a must for the prectical reasons, because it has prevailed for the last +200? years as a bonding fector….
And I will not fix urdu as a muslim language, just a useful language.( my grandfather was good in urdu and farsi)
Regards.

Yasser Latif Hamdani said :
“Well language is only supposed to be useful. Maybe I am not an educated Pakistani but I am quite indifferent to my ethnic origins.”

Yadvendra Mehra said,
Dear Yasser, u are more educated than me.
When we are happy, we are loving and accepting….although we discard the useless parts and improvise. but sentimentally keep few things too.I keep my religion also in this catagory.

Instead of fearing Urdu, these nationalist should fear English. English is eating away our local languages and culture like no other. In Karachi most of the elite schools prohibit the use of Urdu, and the rest of wannabe elite schools tend to follow. The youth in Karachi, the biggest city where Urdu is supposed to be a native language, are embarrassed speaking it, and this phenomena is happening all over Pakistan. We need to step back and start taking pride in our languages and heritage whatever it is.

I am all for protecting and promoting our local languages, culture and heritage. I fear we are losing our identity extremely fast to a foreign language and culture. I believe future of Urdu is as much at stake as any other local or regional language, if we are not going to protect Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, Punjabi etc. its only a matter of time we will lose Urdu as well.

Languages which have ”Rasm-Ul-Khat” in their own must be made compulsary in syllabus till martric. In this way the gaps will be filled in a much easier and freindly manner. Almost all Pakistani provincial languages have inherited a long dignified history and possesses great treasures by having in them scholars, regional writers, great poets and Wallis, etc. We must enable our children to learn almost 5~6 basics of each language so that the ‘Alienism’ may be reduced and such debates may be eliminated. In this way much nationalism will prevail which is a dire need of today.

کتاب جسونت سنگھ نے لکھی، انہیں پارٹی سے بی جے پی نے نکالا، کتاب پر پابندی گجرات حکومت نے لگائی لیکن خوش پاکستانی ہیں۔

ہندو تنگ نظری کا فلسفہ جو ہمیں بچپن سے پڑھایا جاتا ہے ہمیں اس کا جیتا جاگتا ایک اور ثبوت مل گیا۔ محمد علی جناح کی عظمت کا اعتراف ہمارے دشمنوں نے بھی کر لیا۔ ہندو مسلم تاریخی دنگل میں ہمارا پہلوان جیت گیا۔ کافروں نے بھی ہمارے قائد کو قائد اعظم مان لیا۔

پاکستان حالیہ دنوں میں اتنے بحرانوں سے گزرا ہے کہ ہمیں خوشی کا کوئی چھوٹے سے چھوٹا موقع ہاتھ سے نہیں گنوانا چاہیے۔ ورلڈ ٹوئنٹی ٹوئنٹی کا فائنل ہو یا جشن آزادی ہم لوگ بندوقیں نکال کر ہوائی فائرنگ شروع کر دیتے ہیں۔ کیا کریں موقع بھی تو کبھی کبھی ملتا ہے۔

لیکن ہوائی فائرنگ کے اس سلسلے کو ایک لمحے کے لیے روک کر ذرا یہ بھی سوچیے کہ کیا ہمارے دانشور سیاستدان بھی کبھی ایسا کریں گے جو جسونت سنگھ نے کیا ہے۔ کیا مولانا فضل الرحمان کبھی کوئی کتاب لکھ کر گاندھی کے عدم تشدد کے فلسفے کا پرچار کرتے ہوئے پائے جائیں گے۔ کیا کوئی منظور وٹو سے توقع رکھتا ہے کہ وہ ہندوستان کے صنعتی انقلاب کے بارے میں ایک کتابچہ لکھ ڈالیں۔ کیا شہباز شریف کبھی بھول کر بھی کہیں گے کہ انہوں نے گڈ گورنیس نہرو سے سیکھی۔

کہنے والے کہتے ہیں کہ اچھے دن میں ملا عمر (افغانستان والے اصلی تے وڈے ملا عمر، پاکستانی طالبان کے زیر حراست ترجمان نہیں) امیر المونین بننے سے پہلے اسلام آباد تشریف لائے۔ جس کمرے میں ان کی پاکستان کے سیکورٹی اہلکاروں (یا پیرو کاروں) سے ساتھ میٹنگ تھی وہاں دیوار پر ایک تصویر آویزاں تھی جیسا کہ ہر سرکاری دفتر میں ہوتی ہے۔ ملا عمر نے فرمایا کہ تصویر اتاری جائے ورنہ وہ اس کمرے میں نہیں رکیں گے۔ اہل کاروں نے انہیں بتایا لیکن یہ تو قائد اعظم کی تصویر ہے۔ ملا عمر نے معصومیت سے پوچھا: وہ کون ہے؟

کبھی لگتا ہے کہ ہر سرکاری دفترمیں، ہر تھانے کچہری میں، ٹیلی ویژن پر ہر فوجی ڈکٹیٹر کے پیچھے سے جھانکتا ہوا قائد اعظم کا سرکاری پورٹریٹ ہم سے صرف یہی سوال پوچھتا ہے : میں کون ہوں؟ میں یہاں کیا کر رہا ہوں۔

کیونکہ وطن عزیز میں محمد علی جناح غریب کی وہ جورو بن کر رہ گئے ہیں کہ جسکا جو چاہے نام رکھے اور جیسے چاہے استعمال کرے۔

مولانا حضرات ان کے نام کے ساتھ رحمۃ اللہ علیہ کا لاحقہ لگا کر انہیں پانچواں خلیفہ ثابت کرنے کی کوشش کرتے ہیں۔ قومی یکجہتی کا شغل کرنے والے ان کی شیروانی اور ٹوپی دکھا دکھا کر ایک قوم بننے اور اردو بولنے کا درس دیتے ہیں۔ اور آزاد خیال طبقہ ان کے سوٹوں والی تصویریں، انگریزوں والی انگریزی اور شغل مے نوشی یاد دلا کر ایک سیکولر بہشت کے خواب دکھاتا ہے۔

لیکن جس معاشرے میں القاب عطا کرنے کا شوق اتنا بے تاب ہو کہ بابائے قوم، مادر ملت کا بھائی نکلے، جہاں انگریزی زبان میں بنگالیوں کو حکم دیا جائے کہ اردو بولو، جہاں بندہ مزدور کو مجبور کیا جائے کہ وہ پیٹ پر پتھر باندھ کر نہ صرف امرا کے محل سرا تعمیر کرے بلکہ ان کی حفاظت بھی کرے اور پھر اپنی خوش قسمتی پر خدا کا شکر بھی ادا کرے۔ ایسے معاشرے میں یقیناً محمد علی جناح ایک ہی وقت میں رحمتہ اللہ علیہ بھی ہو سکتے ہیں اور کافر اعظم بھی

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Thankfully In India, We Bengalis have never been forced to learn Hindi.. even though at times when hindi was put upon us we learnt it as a lanuage because its beneficial be multilingual. But None can replace or forcibly replace our mother language.
I feel Pakistan should Recognize Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto,Balochi etc languages so that those languages will see substantial development in the future.
Joy Bangla.