
| Editorial For Greater Liaison The Left Front government is moving ahead with vigour to implement its programme of use of Bengali on a much wider scale than at present. The government initiative is welcome in that it will help establish greater liaison between the government and the common people. Government notices, panchayet directives, court documents - issued in English often fail to stir the right chord among people, who may not be adequately conversant with the English language. Few can even elicit the meaning of these government documents, much to their disadvantage. Some may argue in favour of English for their sectarian interests, even bureaucratic bungling has been partly responsible in projecting English as a language for communicating with the people in many cases. We are no longer required to carry the burden of the colonialists. If certain interested quarters can be prevailed upon, greater use of Bengali in official communications cannot be a problem in most of the departments, of course with a bit of prodding but sans compulsion. Once it gets going, it will acquire a momentum. Of course the necessary will have to be present all the while. One cannot leave in the realm of utopia. True, greater use of Bengali in legal notices, judgments will take time. But a beginning obviously will have to be made somewhere. The question is Bengali as language will have to strike hard to help ensure its use in all or most official business. The other issue that is engaging the attention of the Front leaders is a changeover to a new nomenclature of the State. After partition we got a truncated West Bengal. Following 1971 - Bangladesh came on the horizon. But Dacca had to yield place to Dhaka of course some years later. We have been carrying on with West Bengal for all these fifty years. The demand for change in the name of the State - is not unwelcome. The Left Front has been toying with "Banga" or "Kolkata". The opinion of the litterateurs, poets, novelists may be given due consideration. The question of administrative advantage may also be given due weightage before finalizing the name. 5th July 1999. |
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