Pakistan must apologise to people of Bangladesh for atrocities during language movement: Tripura Minister

[fitpOsitive]

Pakistan must apologise to people of Bangladesh for atrocities during language movement: Tripura Minister​

Speaking at an event on the occasion of the International Mother Languages Day, the minister called for the preservation of mother languages of all communities and stated that the new education policy has attached priority to allow teaching in mother languages.​

• Written By Debraj Deb | Agartala |
• February 21, 2022 11:29:57 pm

Ratan Lal Nath (File photo)

Pakistan should apologise to the people of Bangladesh for atrocities committed before 1971, a minister in Tripura said.

Speaking at an event on the occasion of the International Mother Languages Day on Monday, Ratan Lal Nath, the education minister in the BJP-led government, said, “The International Mother Language Day has come about due to Bangladesh. The Pakistanis perpetrated barbaric atrocities during the language movement there in those days.

Pakistanis, who reigned through terror during that time, haven’t still apologised or expressed sorrow. It’s their negative mentality. I shall say from this stage that though it is late, Pakistan should apologise to the Bangladeshi people.”

The minister called for the preservation of mother languages of all communities and stated that the new education policy has attached priority to allow teaching in mother languages.

“In past four years, we have introduced Kokborok language as academic subject in 45 primary schools, 49 secondary and 22 higher secondary schools. We have also taken initiatives to appoint 22 Kokborok faculties in colleges,” the minister said.

The BJP-led government has also introduced Kokborok Language Teachers’ handbook for teachers, he added.

Additionally, the state government has announced Rs one lakh to researchers interested in working on seven indigenous languages including Kokborok, Kuki, Mizo, Garo, Chakma, Manipuri and Bishnupriya Manipuri languages. Such research projects could be undertaken through the Kokborok and other Minority Languages department of the state government.

Meanwhile, Tripura has started an online Kokborok language learning course for government employees since January 30.

“We have taken the initiative as employees face hurdle in communicating with people in hilly areas in Kokborok language. In the first phase, total 100 employees have been selected,” Nath said. The state government departments would be named in Kokborok language soon, he added.

Tripura’s move to rename places and destinations in Kokborok started two years ago with Baramura hills, being rechristened Hatai Kotor, Gandacherra as Ganda Twisa and Atharomura range to Hachuk Berem.

Expressing concern over extinction of languages, Nath said that a total of 231 languages became extinct in the past 26 years as per UNESCO record and another 639 languages are heading towards extinction.

Citing concerns over endangered ethnic languages of Tripura, he said his government is working to preserve all languages including those like Bongcher, Korbong etc. Both tribal languages are critically endangered ethno-linguistic dialects of the state, spoken by only a handful of people.

“The main objective of this day is to love and respect our own language as well as that of others”, Nath said.

Bangladesh assistant high commissioner Arif Mohammad, Higher Education council chairperson Dr. Arunoday Saha, Education department director Chandni Chandran and others joined the International Mother Language Day event in Agartala.

One-third of Tripura’s 37 lakh population are from 18 tribal communities. Most of them live in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), spread across 7,132.56 square km and covering nearly 68 percent of the state’s geographical area. As per government estimates, 8,14,375 people from different tribal communities like Tripura, Reang, Jamatia, Noatia, Kalai, Rupini, Murasing and Uchoi speak Kokborok. Kokborok is now being taught in nearly 300 schools including senior basic, Madhyamik and higher secondary schools, as against in 166 schools during the erstwhile Left era.

Pakistan must apologise to people of Bangladesh for atrocities during language movement: Tripura Minister

Speaking at an event on the occasion of the International Mother Languages Day, the minister called for the preservation of mother languages of all communities and stated that the new education policy has attached priority to allow teaching in mother languages.

indianexpress.com

Sorry!!

 

[peagle]

Thanks for the insights. I have a very vague idea of the issue.

I took your post as a positive one, so my reply wasn't addressed to you, but because you gave me the opportunity to elaborate my thoughts.

Also as I'm on phone I can't see the flags, nice to meet you my Bengali Brother

Actually, this Bengali brother is Pakistani, who just happens to love Bangladesh as well.

 

[F-6 enthusiast]

, had she not taken the decision to go in (irrespective of what her motives were),

to be honest , i don't subscribe to the great man in history theory , someone else would have taken her place.
Her statecraft ? effective no doubt (a certain BD PM took notes)
but she was no saint

our language, society, culture and way of life would probably be wiped and erased.

it would have survived, would have taken 9 years instead of 9 months
The rebellions against the Dehli Sultan , rebelling against the Mughals , the anti-british struggle , the anti-zamindar struggle , the anti-congress struggle to make a state(Pakistan) , and the rebellion against the very same state that we helped build when we were deprived.

we are rebellious by nature, that cannot be denied.


মহা- বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত,
যবে উৎপীড়িতের ক্রন্দন-রোল, আকাশে বাতাসে ধ্বনিবে না,
অত্যাচারীর খড়গ কৃপাণ ভীম রণ-ভূমে রণিবে না –
বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত!
@Joe Shearer

Indira Gandhi showed an ugly side but that was some years after Bangladesh, when she declared the Emergency, a thoroughly undemocratic act, that coalesced the opposition. She made part amends by permitting free elections after that, a miscalculation, perhaps, but nevertheless something that she did, and nobody else.

my personal opinion of her isn't going to change , nor does it really matter. A good helmsman nonetheless.

The next chapter, after the government that succeeded her collapsed, was difficult to narrate.

you were there to see it ?

 

[TheSolution]

This is a match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, In Bangladesh, just few months ago.

The Bangladeshi people inside the stadium are supporting Pakistan, where in the world will you find this? this is because of pure love that resides among people.
Watch full video,
especially from 12:55

Then again from 14:00, they are carrying Pakistani flags. They wouldn't do that if there was genuine hate amongst the people.
Politics gets in the way, for which we actually do need to find a permanent solution. The facts on the ground are totally different and positive.

He is an Indian youtuber.

Yeah, I agree with you, most are indifferent about Pakistan and/or supportive.


But the nationalism has been growing and the "3 million" narrative being peddled, it's more common nowadays, but not the majority. On social media I've certainly seen it growing between younger Bangladeshis.

 

[Aesterix]

Those individuals already have no shame, I think I couldn't shame them any further


And about you shaming those Bangladeshis, how can you shame them, if they don't exist ?

You live under a rock , or too thick to understand reality. But then , both these happen to be your national problem.

 

[peagle]

Speaking entirely as an outsider, it is quite possibly that a formal apology will soothe tempers considerably. Among the Bangladeshi members on this forum, there are those who have lost near and dear ones. Among the Pakistani members, there has already been a graphic and harrowing account of how their family suffered. An apology in the form that the hawks among the Bangladeshis want will bring considerable consolation. It can only help.

They may continue to exact retribution from among their own citizens for the deeds of the past, but it should concern no one but them.

I see what you are saying, but if only it was that simple.
The 1974 agreement should have been the final act, when the wounds were fresh, and the leaders decided it was sufficient for a closure. The yearning for a further apology amounting to a one sided crawling on the stomach is insanely childish.

Many Pakistani leaders have expressed deep sorrow over time, and Musharraf offered an apology that apparently did not meet the desired requirements.

I personally am willing to, hand on my heart, kiss the feet of a Bengali if it brings a closure. But it is not about me, nor about Pakistan, nor the soldiers, it is about the people who suffered unnecessarily, I'll be damn if I forget them.

The biggest difference here is that for a Pakistani it is easier to take a dispassionate view, but for a Bengali, their memories are fresh because they walk those streets and memories come flooding back. I do understand that aspect, hence, my willingness to kiss their feet if that's what it took. But if I can feel for the Bengali people, I can also feel for the people who wished to remain Pakistani, but were forced to suffer and paid with their lives. I would be a bstrd if I forget their sufferings.

Unless forgiveness and recognition is two way, it will not be accepted, two way does not mean at equal terms, we as Pakistanis carry the greater burden, but they also have to recognise their burden.

But at end of the day, no matter the drama, this will be resolved, I have enough experience with Bengalis on a personal level to form a solid judgement about them, and it's almost entirely good.
Like they say, family fights are the hardest lol

 

[Bilal9]

Yes it’s a NE Indian state. It’s Chief Minister is a Bangladeshi migrants though he deny it officially.

During 1947 the King of Tripura wanted to join Pakistan and came to Dhaka for meeting. He waited for two days but East Pakistan governor Khaza Nazimuddin who was of Kashmiri descent did not meet him thinking this may anger India on Kashmir issue. Then he returned back.

It’s a Bengali majority state now. Though previously tribals used to be majority. Most of the bengalis migrated there during British period or from East Pakistan or present day Bangladesh.

Same story with Assam as well but migration took place during British period mostly and those are Muslim migration. That’s why you hear lots of hue and cry on Assam and illegal migration from Bangladesh. In reality they are Indian citizen now as they migrated pre 1947 era.

The capital of the then Kingdom of Tripura was in the town of Comilla.

Their patronage was why the sweet shops in Comilla was world-famous. Sweets as we all know is used in Puja festivals. If the festival is Royal, then the sweets need to be high grade.

RasMalai as a sweet originates from Comilla's dessert-makers, was invented there.

The Burman Family used to rule Tripura, their cousins SD and RD Burman were of course cultural stars in Indian songwriting in their own rights.

The majority of talented Indian film actors. musicians, academicians and scientists all had families hailing from what is now Bangladesh.

Pak - Hindu Bhai Bhai



lol, undertrained, impoverished and poorly equipped mukti bahini used whatever resources they had to harass Pak army, they hardly had the time and need to seek out Biharis...


It's Pak army on other hand razing entire villages and killing people wholesale as they wished during their so called clearance operations..


It's was Bengal in 71 and now you're depopulating Balochistan in same way.


Same dirty tricks, same genocidal and oppressive army, same Pakistan.

Bhai there is no need to stir up old wounds...

Calling each other names will not bring back folks who lost their lives.

 

[AmiEktaKharapChele]

to be honest , i don't subscribe to the great man in history theory , someone else would have taken her place.
Her statecraft ? effective no doubt (a certain BD PM took notes)
but she was no saint


it would have survived, would have taken 9 years instead of 9 months
The rebellions against the Dehli Sultan , rebelling against the Mughals , the anti-british struggle , the anti-zamindar struggle , the anti-congress struggle to make a state(Pakistan) , and the rebellion against the very same state that we helped build when we were deprived.

we are rebellious by nature, that cannot be denied.


মহা- বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত,
যবে উৎপীড়িতের ক্রন্দন-রোল, আকাশে বাতাসে ধ্বনিবে না,
অত্যাচারীর খড়গ কৃপাণ ভীম রণ-ভূমে রণিবে না –
বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত!
@Joe Shearer



my personal opinion of her isn't going to change , nor does it really matter. A good helmsman nonetheless.


you were there to see it ?

Brother, in 9 months, they sent our society 20 years back by targeting our intellectuals, in 9 years, we'd be worse than the rohingya, who are so poorly educated and fractured they can't even band together..



We're here today because it was 9 months and not 9 years, or we'd be in 2022 alright but our Bangladesh wouldn't be the one, you and I know...


My family were victims of the war, even 9 months were a few days too many for millions of souls.

You live under a rock , or too thick t9 understand reality. But then , both these happen to be your national problem.

Nah, I'm perfectly sane and sound of mind, also well aware of reality


You mustn't be aware there are 15 million Hindus in Bangladesh, who are Hindu and free to call themselves that..


Those are not Muslims selling their faith and claiming to be of Hindu descent, rather, they're Hindus.


But I understand it's difficult for someone from a country with no minorities to grasp.. that reality is different and alot less bleak elsewhere.

 

[peagle]

Yeah, I agree with you, most are indifferent about Pakistan and/or supportive.


But the nationalism has been growing and the "3 million" narrative being peddled, it's more common nowadays, but not the majority. On social media I've certainly seen it growing between younger Bangladeshis.

Social media, you don't know who's who.

Plus, people on social media play to the gallery or get carried away with emotions. This is the first time I have ever joined a forum, I don't even have a Facebook account. The only social media account I had was myspace, and that was because of an old girlfriend.

I honestly do not recognise the Pakistanis here, it's like I never knew these people existed, lot of it is just the same idiots I've come across in real life, but the variety the good and bad has been enlightening, because I have not met 90% of these people in real life. There are many here I wish I had met in real life, because I hardly have any Pakistani friends nowadays, mostly non-Pakistani, among them mostly Indian.

I would take online opinions and mix them with your personal experiences and then form your conclusions, in my view the conclusions about Bengalis are almost entirely good.

 

[Joe Shearer]

to be honest , i don't subscribe to the great man in history theory , someone else would have taken her place.
Her statecraft ? effective no doubt (a certain BD PM took notes)
but she was no saint


it would have survived, would have taken 9 years instead of 9 months
The rebellions against the Dehli Sultan , rebelling against the Mughals , the anti-british struggle , the anti-zamindar struggle , the anti-congress struggle to make a state(Pakistan) , and the rebellion against the very same state that we helped build when we were deprived.

we are rebellious by nature, that cannot be denied.


মহা- বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত,
যবে উৎপীড়িতের ক্রন্দন-রোল, আকাশে বাতাসে ধ্বনিবে না,
অত্যাচারীর খড়গ কৃপাণ ভীম রণ-ভূমে রণিবে না –
বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত!
@Joe Shearer



my personal opinion of her isn't going to change , nor does it really matter. A good helmsman nonetheless.


you were there to see it ?

Yes.

I watched politics in the country and especially in Bengal from 66- 67 onwards. I saw the ousting of a thoroughly corrupt Congress, the breakdown of a coalition with the Bangla Congress and the Marxists, where Pranab Mukherjee was a prominent - and sinister - figure; the onrush of the Naxalites, especially in my college, where two others and I were among the many summoned before a গণ আদালত , while on the other hand, my father's policemen took us off to the Jorabagan thana for interrogation as suspected Naxals (the headlines in the papers the next day were large ones); I watched with thousands of others in congealed horror as the situation in East Pakistan went careening out of control; we cursed and agitated against the Indira Gandhi government for watching calmly while thousands were slaughtered, and ten million refugees came into camps in India; we watched, stunned, as Manekshaw finally showed his hand, and the very polite generals who used to come home for dinner turned out to be the ones who had planned the campaign; we entertained General Osmany to dinner at home - there is a marvellous group photograph; I was taken by my father to meet JP; the Nava Nirman movement in Gujarat gave way to Sampoorna Kranti in Bihar; and the emergency was declared.

That was one phase.

What happened after was another phase.

it would have survived, would have taken 9 years instead of 9 months
The rebellions against the Dehli Sultan , rebelling against the Mughals , the anti-british struggle , the anti-zamindar struggle , the anti-congress struggle to make a state(Pakistan) , and the rebellion against the very same state that we helped build when we were deprived.

we are rebellious by nature, that cannot be denied.


মহা- বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত,
যবে উৎপীড়িতের ক্রন্দন-রোল, আকাশে বাতাসে ধ্বনিবে না,
অত্যাচারীর খড়গ কৃপাণ ভীম রণ-ভূমে রণিবে না –
বিদ্রোহী রণ-ক্লান্ত
আমি সেই দিন হব শান্ত!

100% agree, but the human toll would have been in the millions. History teaches us that the centre has never successfully dominated Bengal.

 

[Destranator]

Oh really?
Many of you call yourself ethnic Hindu in Muslim body.
How a religion became ethnicity is beyond me.

No one said that except for the well known false flagger @Riyad.

 

[Joe Shearer]

I see what you are saying, but if only it was that simple.
The 1974 agreement should have been the final act, when the wounds were fresh, and the leaders decided it was sufficient for a closure. The yearning for a further apology amounting to a one sided crawling on the stomach is insanely childish.

Many Pakistani leaders have expressed deep sorrow over time, and Musharraf offered an apology that apparently did not meet the desired requirements.

I personally am willing to, hand on my heart, kiss the feet of a Bengali if it brings a closure. But it is not about me, nor about Pakistan, nor the soldiers, it is about the people who suffered unnecessarily, I'll be damn if I forget them.

The biggest difference here is that for a Pakistani it is easier to take a dispassionate view, but for a Bengali, their memories are fresh because they walk those streets and memories come flooding back. I do understand that aspect, hence, my willingness to kiss their feet if that's what it took. But if I can feel for the Bengali people, I can also feel for the people who wished to remain Pakistani, but were forced to suffer and paid with their lives. I would be a bstrd if I forget their sufferings.

Unless forgiveness and recognition is two way, it will not be accepted, two way does not mean at equal terms, we as Pakistanis carry the greater burden, but they also have to recognise their burden.

But at end of the day, no matter the drama, this will be resolved, I have enough experience with Bengalis on a personal level to form a solid judgement about them, and it's almost entirely good.
Like they say, family fights are the hardest lol

You know, of course, that I am an east Bengali by descent.

 

[Aesterix]

No one said that except for the well known false flagger @Riyad.

You guys should start living in this era instead of 50 years ago.
Right now Bangladesh is actively killing own citizens on political basis.

 

[F-6 enthusiast]

I watched politics in the country and especially in Bengal from 66- 67 onwards. I saw the ousting of a thoroughly corrupt Congress, the breakdown of a coalition with the Bangla Congress and the Marxists, where Pranab Mukherjee was a prominent - and sinister - figure; the onrush of the Naxalites, especially in my college, where two others and I were among the many summoned before a গণ আদালত , while on the other hand, my father's policemen took us off to the Jorabagan thana for interrogation as suspected Naxals (the headlines in the papers the next day were large ones); I watched with thousands of others in congealed horror as the situation in East Pakistan went careening out of control; we cursed and agitated against the Indira Gandhi government for watching calmly while thousands were slaughtered, and ten million refugees came into camps in India; we watched, stunned, as Manekshaw finally showed his hand, and the very polite generals who used to come home for dinner turned out to be the ones who had planned the campaign; we entertained General Osmany to dinner at home - there is a marvellous group photograph; I was taken by my father to meet JP; the Nava Nirman movement in Gujarat gave way to Sampoorna Kranti in Bihar; and the emergency was declared.

an interesting life you have lead - to say the least

we entertained General Osmany to dinner at home

was papa tiger's mustache really that big ?

 

[peagle]

You know, of course, that I am an east Bengali by descent.

I did not, so is one my closest friends, as is his wife, both their families had migrated during the 71 conflict.
He still has feelings for Bangladesh, although his wife does not, to put it mildly. Her father served in the Indian army, although retired now. He was here around 3/4 years ago and we went for a session of practice golf in the nets and few drinks. When leaving he offered to smuggle me into India via Bangladesh in-case my visa was refused by the Indian government lol, I said thank you, but no thank you