Laying importance on literary pursuit to promote values and sharpen rationalism in society, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said there was no alternative to engaging oneself in cultivating literature for self-enlightenment and fight against evil forces.
"The whole world is now reeling from unrests where reign of terror and anarchy are out to suppress all good senses. We have to be enlightened with knowledge to defeat ominous forces. For this, there is no alternative to literary pursuit," she said.
Hasina said this while inaugurating the three-day International Bengali Literature Conference-1424 at Osmani Memorial Hall yesterday afternoon.
She said civilization flourishes with creativity, and language is key to this creativity. Thus, literature plays a significant role in the evolution of society and civilization.
Literary practice develops good sense, unveils immense prospect, and encourages building of a society with logic, she said, adding, "The more a society is affluent in literature, the more it is civilized."
Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University and convenor of the conference organising committee Anisuzzaman was in the chair while litterateur Rabeya Khatun, general secretary Jayonta Ghosh of Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahittya Sammilon, its vice-president Pradip Bhattachariya, vice-president Sattyam Roy Chowdhury of Friends Bangladesh, India addressed the programme among others.
Minister for Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor recited a poem of Syed Shamsul Haque and chief coordinator of the conference organising committee Nasir Uddin Yusuf Bachhu delivered the welcome address.
India, Japan and Germany are taking part in the conference being held on the Bangla Academy premises.
Appreciating the organisers for choosing the immortal message of Gurusaday Dutt “Biswamanob hobi jodi kaimone Bangalee ha” (be a Bangalee with heart and soul if you want to be a universal figure) as the theme of the conference the prime minister said people across the world, who inherited Bangalee culture and literature, should always remember their roots in Bangla.
"They should not forget their identity. They have to possess their distinctiveness to survive in the global arena, as they have the glorious history of raising their heads against any injustice and indomitable willpower to accomplish any difficult task," she said.
Bangla literature is founded on one of the richest languages in the world in terms of vocabularies, literary repository and having roots among the people.
Hasina said the lifestyle of the people has changed in many ways with technological advancements. Lives have been made easier and faster, but appeal of the literature did not diminish.
The prime minister hoped that the international literature conference would enrich the literature of different languages through exchanges and sharing of ideas and experiences of literature lovers. Bangla literature would be more enriched through such events.
She paid rich tributes to the martyrs of immortal Ekushey and creative poets and litterateurs of Bangla literature – Ishwar Chandra Vidyanagar, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bankim Chandra, Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul, Jibanananda, Jasim Uddin and others -- in who's hands Bangla literature has turned into a “big tree” sprouting many flowers.
Hasina said Bangalees are the only nation in the globe who set the example of embracing martyrdom to protect the dignity of the mother language.
"No nation can tolerate disgrace of its mother language," she quoted Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and said Bangabandhu in his first appearance at the UN in 1974 delivered his speech in Bangla, aimed at establishing its grandeur and dignity at the world forum.
Since her accession to power, Hasina said she has been delivering her speeches at the UN in Bangla. Bangladesh has established the International Institute of Mother Languages for research on languages and their preservations, she said, adding that her government was continuing its efforts to make Bangla as one of the official languages of the UN.
Quoting a speech of Bangabandhu, the prime minister said people were the sources of all literature and arts. No great literature or artwork can be created being detached from the people.
She said February 21 has received global recognition as the International Mother Language Day. "We don't want any language to go to oblivion in the process of social transformation."
