Nilgiri
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Tamil and Malayalam are two state language spoken by the people of different state in India with each having an impressive literature and media usage behind them. On the other hand most people in Sylhet and Bangladesh as a whole consider Sylheti is a local dialect of Bangla. I am now living in Sylhet for almost 8 years and I can tell you, with the exception of some internet jerk anybody in Sylhet doesn't no that they are speaking anything other than Bangla albeit in local form.There is no local newspaper circulation or books written in Sylheti dialect.All use standard Bangla and educated Sylheti are increasingly abandoning speaking in it and adopting standard form.
There is no measurable movement among the Sylheti to achieve recognition of their dialect as a full fledged language separated from Bangla, and International mother's language day is observed here in the same scale and with the same zeal as any other place of BD.So don't listen and get the wrong impression from some loony Sylheti diaspora sitting in UK.
Well the links between Tamil and Malayalam are more deep and there is debate as to what the real differences are or are they just a transitional larger language (far greater differences are often called just one language - look at Spanish and Italian for example). I can understand most malayalis quite well and vice versa. The mutual intelligibility is very high.
I have just heard from many sylheti speakers that they consider their language to be different enough from Bengali to be more than just a dialect.
It is difference of opinion in the end....just like how Tamils and Malayalis also sometimes have a squabble about it.