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Members of Aamra Bangali take part in the rally in Sakchi on Thursday. (Animesh Sengupta)
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More than 600 members of socio-cultural outfit Aamra Bangali on Thursday took to the streets demanding state language status for Bengali, throwing traffic off-kilter on Sakchi- Bengal Club road for nearly an hour.
The members, who organised the rally on International Mother Language Day, also pledged before the district collectorate to continue with their protest till the government did what they wanted.
A delegation of the outfit, which submitted a memorandum to governor Syed Ahmed via East Singhbhum DC Himani Pande, warned if no action was taken by the government, they would assemble in larger numbers from all across Jharkhand and stage a dharna before Raj Bhavan on April 3.
“Around 70 per cent of the state’s population speak Bengali. The government should honour Bengali with a state language status. We have pressed for this demand since years but politicians only paid lip service. This time we won’t believe mere assurances,” said the outfit’s central committee member Angad Mahto.
The rally began from Aam Bagan in Sakchi, went around different routes in the area, and then converged at the district collectorate. After handing the memorandum, delegates went to the Sakchi roundabout where members addressed their views.
Rich tributes were also paid to the student martyrs of then East Pakistan who had given up their lives for their Bengali mother tongue.
Adding colour were Manbhum Chhau dancers from Patamda block, musicians with dhol, dhansa and ektara, jhumar dancers from Jhargram in Bengal and even members dressed up as Baul singers.
“Apart from granting official language status to Bengali, we want the government to ensure Bengali textbooks and teachers in schools, colleges and higher learning centres. We also want announcements at public places like Tatanagar and Sitaramdera bus terminus to be made in Bengali,” Mahto said.
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