"From the days of Raghu to Akbar, Bengal had never been cowed down to come under the sway of Delhi, capital of allen imperialism. Bengal resisted the attempts of Lord Krishna to make the whole of India as one."

In a spirited speech delivered at the L.Y.M.A., Madras on the 15th of April, Prof. Ghose an erudite scholar and one who has borne the brunt of many a battle in the cause of justice and liberty, pointed out, this fact — Bengal was never before subjected to Delhi. This means that now, Delhi has got Bengal in its clutches.

From very ancient times, (from Raghu) till the grand Mughals (Akbar), Bengal, like our own motherland, was able to maintain its independence. And by maintaining its independence, Bengal was able to offer to the sub-continent, rich culture and valour richer still. The seers and savants, poets and reformers that Bengal gave birth to, are held in very high esteem, even today. Long before even the attainment of Swaraj, that has given an honoured place for this sub-continent in the comity of nations. The whole of South East Asia, throbbed with heroism and a spirit of self sacrifice, at the very mention of the word, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose! It was Bengal again, which gave a scientist of rare genius, whose depth of thought and nobility of expression was applauded all over the world. None could, after a glimpse of the History of Bengal, escape the thrill and throb. Mighty has been its monarchs, mightier still its people! It never bowed low, never spared anything in the cause of freedom and liberty, and held up the torch of knowledge high aloft, when there was darkness all around. Prof. Ghose has every right to be enthusiastic about Bengal—certainly, neither Puranic heroes nor the Padhushas were able to subjugate Bengal, the bastion of liberty, the beacon-light of culture.

But .....! And it is because of the advent of this ominious 'But', that, Prof. Ghose, has been amidst us, to instil a spirit of hope and vigour unto us, so that, we from this State, would join the freedom fight, now begun.

"Bengal had faced many a bullet over the centuries in her struggle to preserve her freedom and culture. Yet one more shot has been fired in the shape of Hindi as the official language."

Prof. Ghose spoke thus, not to scare, but to instil hope and courage for he adds, 'Hindi enthusiasts would miserably fail in their attempts.'

We feel happy to hear this lyric of hope and valour—but we are happier still to hear from this scholar from Bengal, some of the fundamentals, with which we are intimately connected.

Whenever we here point out that our Motherland was never enslaved, but remained Sovereign for ages and ages, we are being dubbled as being 'tribal'.

When we point out that from the days of the Avatars right up to the days of Aurangazeb, we were not chained to the chariot wheels of any Northern power, we are being scolded as being fanatic.

When we point out, that even the noble Asoka, whose polity was built upon piety and nobility, crossed not the Narmada, as overlord, we are dubbed as dabblers in half-baked history.

When we ask our people to remember, that Harsha and Kanishka, Chandragupta and Samudragupta, were attempting to build up an 'Empire'—but only as far as the Vindhyas, we are being mocked at as becoming ultra-emotional.

History, literature, architecture, archaeology, culture, language—all bear ample testimony to the fact that we here formed a distinct nation—an entity —with a mission and a message.

But, whenever we speak in this vein, we are scolded, not by scholars and historians, and linguists, but by the Congress Ministers. The less their claim to learning, the louder is their voice! Their vehemence is equalled only by the vacuum in their mind, as regards the different branches of study.

Hence it is, that we feel highly elated to find similar thoughts surging in the mind of this scholar from Bengal, Prof. Ghose.

Let those, who because of their place, have become bold, unleash their uncultured arguments. Men do not become eminent, by merely occupying places of eminence. We care not about what they say and feel, so long as there are scholars to substantiate our statements, express similar sentiments. No amount of venom poured forth by those who have become the vassals of Delhi, is going to stamp out the glow of enthusiasm and emotion surging up in our heart. And, Prof. Ghose's masterly analysis goes but to strengthen our conviction and generate fresh enthusiasm and confidence. We are thankful to him for his timely discourse,

Prof. Ghose said that India was a country of many nations.

That is exactly what we here are propagating, not for disruption as our rulers dub it, but for the realisation of the best and the noblest, that each nation is capable of contributing to the world.

We of course cannot expect Mr. Kamaraj to endorse this fact, we are prepared to appreciate his inability in this respect—but what possibly could be the reason for the antagonism shown or the indifference exhibited even by those who have had courses in History! Strong indeed ought to be the motive and sweet certainly should be the bait placed before them. It was just when we were munching sorrow, that this doughty Bengali has come forward to place truth, with a courage of conviction. We would like to meet more such men.

"Bengalis and South Indians were the original people—South India had the oldest culture and the oldest language."
—says Prof. Ghose, and asks us, to join hands with him and put up a fight against Hindi.

Prof. Jyotish Chandra Ghose pointed out that the move to replace English by Hindi is yet another attempt in history to impose language imperialism, by the North over Bengal and South India.

We here have been carrying on a relentless fight against this language imperialism.

More than that, we have been resisting, the onward march of Delhi imperialism as a whole.

The only difference, if difference it could be termed, as between us and the Professor, seems to be this.
Prof. Ghose, seems to feel that the imposition of Hindi, is a stray, sudden, senseless and tactless attempt at forging a language Imperialism. The Professor is correct in his description of the disease, but we here, feel that the disease in born from a deep-rootted germ already implanted in body-politic, we refer to the political imperialism now lodged at Delhi.

We feel strongly, that so long as Delhi is given imperial powers under the guise of a Central government, so long will there be the menace. If one attempt is thwarted another would spring up. If we are alert, imperialism would pause, but it would pounce upon us, unawares. Hence it is, that we here, are advocating a more permanent remedy to eradicate the malady in the body-politic.

Hindi, after all, is a cudgel, with which they want to beat us down. If our efforts are trim, then we could break this cudgel to pieces. But the menace is there! It may come, in any shape, at any time! And to be always on the look-out for such attempts, and fight them out, might be heroic, but much precious time and tact, energy and enthusiasm would be eaten up in this task of warding off dangers.

But if we were to stand up and place the historic truth, that 'from Raghu to Akbar,' we were not subjugated by Delhi, and hence, we need not now be a vassal to that imperialism, if we are able to convince the fair-minded freedom-lovers, that endowed with a distinct culture, a noble heritage, we are entitled to be, Independent Sovereign State, not of course to subjugate others or be warring with others, but for breathing the salubrious air of freedom, so that the best and the noblest in our Nation could be got, for enriching the common pool, then and then alone could there be a lasting solution to the malady at present eating into the vitals of the body-politic.

Imperialism cannot be merely language Imperialism. Language is one of the means that the Imperialist is employing at present, for achieving his sinister scheme. But there are the other coils, more sinewy and poisonous! Any imperialism is like an octopus! We cannot possibly save ourselves by escaping from one of its coils:—
From Raghu to Akbar, Bengal did not come under the sway of Delhi! True! But, now....?

(Editorial - 20-04-1958)