Dhaka: Country’s noted academics stress the importance of improving the average standard of Bangla - both written and spoken ones - to show due respect to the heroes who had laid down their lives to protect the mother tongue in 1952.

Talking to UNB, three prominent academics of the country - Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury and Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam - underlined the need for raising the awareness of people to improve the language skill rather than getting emotional in a particular month.

They said learning and using it properly is the right way to show respect for the language martyrs.

Talking to UNB, Prof Anisuzzaman said the Language Movement had taken place due to people’s strong will to implement Bangla in their personal lives. ‘But, people now have got deviated from the spirit for various reasons.’

‘So, to materialise the dreams of the language martyrs and implement Bangla in every sphere of life, their will power must be invigorated again. The government cannot do this alone. All must come forward to create a social awareness so that people can learn and practise Bangla correctly.’ he observed.

Anisuzzaman, also the Bangla Academy Chairman, bemoaned that Bangla is being used wrongly at all levels, including offices and mass media, both in its written and spoken forms. ‘FM radios are horribly misrepresenting the language. We must put up a strong resistance against it.’

He also suggested carrying out a survey to find the reasons why people do not feel encouraged to speak and write Bangla correctly, and thus take steps to improve the average standard of Bangla.

Prof Serajul Islam Choudhury said, ‘It’s a fact that we couldn’t yet materialise the dreams of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Bangla. We pay homage to martyrs and arrange Ekushey Book Fair every year in February and utter rhetoric to uphold the spirit of the Language Movement, but forget everything after the month is over.’

He said the politicians who rule the country are not sincere to improve the standard of Bangla and ensure its ideal practice in every sphere of society, including offices and educational institutions.

‘They’re reluctant about it as most of their children study abroad.’

The veteran educationist said though regrettable, misrepresented Bangla is now accepted in society, writing and speaking the language wrongly, misusing Bangla in movies, dramas and mass media. ‘Those who can’t perfectly write Bangla or speak it properly don’t feel shame. So it’s a big social problem.’

He said a ‘coordinated effort is necessary to remove this problem. It’s the government which has to take the steps to encourage people to learn their mother tongue properly.’

Prof Serajul Islam said a vigorous campaign is needed to make aware the people of all walks of life, including students, so that they learn Bangla properly and practise it accordingly everywhere.

Besides, he said, more libraries are needed to be set up alongside encouraging people to read books.

Syed Manzoorul Islam said people observe the Amar Ekushey with great enthusiasm and visit Ekushey Book Fair with huge emotion for their own language. ‘It’s fine and necessary. But it’s not enough to demonstrate only emotion instead of learning and practising Bangla properly to honour our language movement heroes. Unfortunately, Bangla is being used wrongly at every sphere of society.’

Mentioning that people mainly learn language in families and educational institutions, he said a mass campaign is necessary to aware family members to teach their children language properly, and investment must be made in education sector to train teachers so that they can educate their students of all regions with right pronunciation of Bangla.

He also stressed formulating a well-defined and time-befitting national education and language policy to improve the standard of people’s language skills.

The parents and guardians of students have a major role to play in raising the standard of written and spoken of Bangla, he added.

The country’s three prominent linguists also observed that now little focus is given on maintaining the standard of anything, no matter it is education, cultural activities, writing a movie script or one for a TV drama - no one seems to be serious.

In 1952, students in Dhaka rose up and protested against the then Pakistani government for declaring Urdu as the national language.

During the protest on February 21, Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar were killed in police firing.