Lahoris mark Bangladesh’s independence

Speaker says discrimination against Bengalis began with declaring Urdu as the only national language.

LAHORE:

“The discrimination against Bengalis did not start late. It can be traced to Quaid-e-Azam’s declaring Urdu the only national language of Pakistan,” said Ajoka Theatre’s Madeeha Gohar on Friday.

She was speaking at a discussion session organised by the Asr Resource Centre to observe the 40th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence (March 26).

Salima Hashmi, however, differed with Gohar, saying that a much deeper analysis of post-colonial state craft was required to determine the causes of injustices meted out to the Bengali citizens. Earlier, two documentaries in connection with the day were screened. These were War Crimes 1971 by Shahriar Kabir and Women and War by Tariq and Catherine Masud. A man identifying himself as an ethnic Bengali said his community still faced discrimination in Pakistan. He said many people still see them as traitors and did not treat them as equal citizens. Nayyara Noor’s performance of Faiz’s Aaj Bazaar Mein and Hum Ke Thehray Ajnabi were also played at the event.



Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2011.