West Bengal Govt to make all communications in Bangla from September 1, says CM

Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday announced the mandatory use of Bangla as a language of communication in official transactions, in addition to his Government deciding to create a Special Investigating Agency along the lines of the National Investigating Agency to preempt future possible security threats.

The decisions come a day after the conclusion of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s three-day trip to the State during which he emphasised the promotion of India’s rich cultural heritage on the sidelines of reviewing the State’s internal and border security system.

All the official communications within the administration and with the public would be in Bangla. This would include the First Information Reports lodged by the police too, the Chief Minister said.

During his speech in the State Assembly, Adhikari said, “Bangla will be mandatorily used in all the official communications of the State Government… this will be implemented at all levels from September 1… the intervening period will be used for translating the documents,” he said, adding the State in its communication with the central Government will use Hindi alongside Bengali for that purpose.

Referring to a letter from Shah to this end, the Chief Minister said how the Home Minister in his letter written in Bangla invoked Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee's dream for the preservation and promotion of Indian languages.

In his letter written in Bengali, Shah recalled how Mookerjee was an “ardent supporter of conservation, development and the extensive use of Indian languages.” Shah, in his letter, advised the use of Bangla and Rajbhasha (State language) Hindi "instead of a foreign language, for in official communications with the Central Government,” Adhikari said.

Referring to the file management, departmental communications and official notings, Shah in his letter said, “I believe that on the 125th birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, your Government will take effective steps for the extensive use and development of Indian languages”

The Home Minister on Sunday, while inaugurating India’s first immersive language museum at the National Library, had extensively dwelt on the reinvention and reinvigoration of national heritage and culture, putting it back on the centre stage. “There is no bar in gathering information about foreign culture, languages, etc but there is an urgent need for the revival of Indian cultural heritage, which can only be possible through the learning of the mother tongue,” he said.

Apart from a Bengali-oriented cultural push, the State Government has also decided to set up a National Investigating Agency-style Special Investigation Agency to bring the investigative capabilities of the State on par with the NIA.

In doing so, Bengal would be the first State to set up an SIA. Only the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is reported to have a similar structure, a senior official said.

The decision was taken following intensive review of the State’s security infrastructure by Home Minister Amit Shah during his three-day visit to Bengal. The creation of an SIA was a part of a larger coordinated security roadmap that includes the use of (the already existing) Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, sources said.