ABVP demands September 20 be declared 'Bengali Language Day', seeks Dariibheet probe

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has placed a new demand before the West Bengal government. The organisation wants the state to formally declare September 20 as Bengali Language Day. The demand stems from an incident on September 20, 2018, in Dariibheet in North Dinajpur, in which two people were killed. ABVP says the deaths of Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Barman should be officially recognised through this date.

In the Dariibheet incident, Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Barman were killed in police firing. ABVP claims the two were taking part at the time in a movement linked to the right to, and protection of, the mother tongue, and that they lost their lives during this agitation. Citing this, the organisation has demanded that September 20 be observed as Bengali Language Day in West Bengal.

ABVP itself acknowledges that Bengali Language Day is observed worldwide on February 21. But the organisation argues that the historical background of that date is linked to the language movement of erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, not to India. ABVP says West Bengal's own identity is tied to the legacy of writers such as Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam, and that the Dariibheet incident, tied to the mother tongue issue in the state, deserves separate and proper recognition.

Along with the demand for a language day, ABVP has also sought a fair and prompt investigation into the Dariibheet incident. The organisation says the truth behind the incident must come out and that those responsible should be identified and arrested.

To press this demand, ABVP observed Bengali Language Day on Sunday, September 20, at several colleges across West Bengal. On the occasion, the organisation paid tribute to Rajesh Sarkar and Tapas Barman.

ABVP's demand is expected to further intensify the language-related dispute in West Bengal.