Topic: 2024-Indigenous Languages
Country: Bangladesh
Delegate Name: Fletcher Fahling
UN International Mother Language Day was first recognized in 1999, on February 21, in honor of Bangladesh gaining its independence. Bangladesh’s fight for its freedom was catalyzed by Pakistan’s intention to make Urdu the only officially spoken language, despite Bangla speakers holding a majority in the country. That freedom fight was successful, and now Bangla is freely and officially spoken in Bangladesh. Language is vitally important to a nation, it serves as an essential part of culture and as a repository of culture and cultural identity. Without a love for our language, Bangladesh as a country would not exist. Therefore, Bangladesh recognizes the importance of preserving mother tongues.
Bangladesh recognizes 50 ethnic groups speaking many different unique languages, which enrich Bangladesh’s culture and history. In Bangladesh’s National Education Plan, measures have been put in place to help tribal children to be educated in their native language. The Bengali government has translated and distributed over 25,000 textbooks and nationalized about 210 schools serving these non Bengali populations. Education is the most important thing we can do as a developing country to ensure our future, and it’s only fair to teach young children in their own language. However, these measures have been difficult to fully realize, as a country with a brand new public education system trying to educate its children in their mother tongue of Bangla. Bangladesh would support measures to increase educational resources to translate more texts so that more and higher education can be taught in one’s mother language.
In addition to protecting small languages, Bangladesh also sees it as important to protect and preserve the Bangla language in the face of incursion of larger languages such as English. Language death begins as the fields in which the language can be used narrow. Already in our universities much instruction occurs in English because most higher level material is in English. In order to preserve our sovereignty and our national dignity, it’s critical to consider the preservation and celebration of Bangla, which we are already doing via the International Mother Tongue Institute. Preserving our languages’ purity and integrity is an important measure for preserving a country itself.
Language, specifically one’s mother language, is vitally important: to an individual, to a culture, to the nation. Bangladesh would not exist today without a fight for the ability to speak one’s mother language. Through further education and preservation efforts, Bangladesh believes that these vital cultural components can thrive well into the future.
