Minister: State tolerant of all languages

Kolkata: State Education minister Bratya Basu on Thursday reaffirmed the importance of the Bengali language in the state and emphasised the need to protect it from being overshadowed, while advocating for tolerance towards all languages.

“In our Bengal, if someone wants to speak in Hindi, we will let them, because this is our tradition of tolerance,” Basu said, highlighting the state’s long-standing tradition of embracing linguistic diversity. “This is what should be allowed. However, if someone tries to prevent me from speaking my language, then it’s not right and it’s injustice.” Basu made these remarks at the inauguration of the two-day ‘Bhasha Mela’, a language fair organised by the Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR) at Rabindra Tirtha in Newtown, Kolkata, on Thursday. He called on everyone to work towards the revival of Bengali, stating: “We can adapt many languages, but Bengali is my essence and my roots. We must all take responsibility for preserving it.”

Basu also voiced concerns over the Centre’s push for uniformity and reiterated his belief in India’s pluralistic nature. “Slogans like ‘one nation, one election, one religion, one language, one food’ are being promoted,” he said. “In the Indian context, pluralism has been championed repeatedly. We need to recognise our differences as one and this language fair is our way to acknowledge pluralism. We aim to spread the state’s pluralism across the entire country through this fair and ILSR.”