Bengali Language Movement

The Bengali Language Movement, also known as the Language Movement (] In West Pakistan, the movement was seen as a sectional uprising against Pakistani national interests.cite journal
last = Rahman | first = Tariq | year = 1997
month = September | title = Language and Ethnicity in Pakistan | journal = Asian Survey
volume = 37 | issue = 9 | pages = 833–839 | issn = 0004-4687
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687(199709)37%3A9%3C833%3ALAEIP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
accessdate = 2007-06-21 | doi = 10.1525/as.1997.37.9.01p02786 ] The rejection of the "Urdu-only" policy was seen as a contravention of the Perso-Arabic culture of Muslims and the founding ideology of Pakistan, the Two-Nation Theory. West Pakistani politicians considered Urdu a product of Indian Islamic culture, while they saw Bengali as a part of "Hinduized" Bengali culture. This provoked considerable opposition in West Pakistan. As late as in 1967, Ayub Khan said, "East Bengalis...still are under considerable Hindu culture and influence."

The Awami Muslim League turned over to Bengali nationalism after the Movement, and shed the word "Muslim" from its name.cite book |last= Lintner|first= Bertil |editor= eds Satu Limaye, Robert Wirsing, Mohan Malik|others= |title=Religious Radicalism and Security in South Asia |url=http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/ReligiousRadicalism.htm |accessdate=2007-06-28 |year=2004|month=January |publisher=Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies |location=Honolulu, Hawaii |isbn=0971941661 |pages= p.413|chapter=Chapter 17: Religious Extremism and Nationalism in Bangladesh |chapterurl=http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/PagesfromReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsiach17.pdf |format=PDF ] This nationalist approach of the party led to alienation of leaders such as Golam Azam who were supportive of the Muslim activism rather than the nationalist approach. The Language Movement inspired similar discontent for cultural rights and sectional autonomy in the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and the Northwest Frontier Province. The political unrest in East Pakistan and rivalry between the central government and the United Front-led provincial government was one of the main factors culminating in the 1958 military coup by Ayub Khan.

Citations

References

* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Al Helal
Given1 = B
Authorlink = Bashir Al Helal
Surname2=
Given2=
Year = 2003
Title = Bhasha Andoloner Itihas (History of the Language Movement)
Publisher= Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka
ISBN = 984-401-523-5
Language = Bn icon
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Uddin
Given1 = Sufia M.
Surname2=
Given2=
Year = 2006
Title = Constructing Bangladesh: Religion, Ethnicity, and Language in an Islamic Nation
Publisher= The University of North Carolina Press
Place = Chapel Hill
ISBN = 0807830216
Pages =
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Umar
Given1 = B
Surname2=
Given2=
Year = 1979
Title = Purbo-Banglar Bhasha Andolon O Totkalin Rajniti
Publisher= Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka
ISBN =
Pages = Bn icon

Further reading

*cite book
author = Badruddin Umar
title = The Emergence of Bangladesh: Class Struggles in East Pakistan (1947-1958)
publisher = Oxford University Press, USA
year = 2004
isbn = 978-0195795714
*cite book
author = Anwar S. Dil
title = Bengali language movement to Bangladesh
publisher = Ferozsons
year = 2000
isbn = 978-9690015778
*cite book
author = Robert S. Stern
title = Democracy and Dictatorship in South Asia: Dominant Classes and Political Outcomes in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
publisher = Praeger Publishers
year = 2000
isbn = 978-0275970413
*cite book
author = Syed Manzoorul Islam
title = Essays on Ekushey: The Language Movement 1952
publisher = Bangla Academy
year = 1994
isbn = 984-07-2968-3

External links

* [http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/bengali_heritage/bangla_language_movement.htm Bangla language movement]
* [http://www.bssnews.net/about_language_movement.php Language movement at BSS]
* [http://www.discoverybangladesh.com/history.html History of Bangladesh]
* [http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/ekushe.html Language movement at Virtual Bangladesh]
* [http://banglapedia.org/ht/E_0034.HTM Language movement at Banglapedia]