when Bangladesh was an Eastern Province of Pakistan, its population was dominantly Bangla-Speaking. The Western Province (present-day Pakistan) had all the political power. The state choose Urdu as the national language of the country and made it compulsory for all to learn and speak in all official matters of the country regardless of the huge linguistic and cultural diversity this country had. This linguistic imposition was celebrated in the name of nation-building. People were made to believe, and still today, that nation means sharing one common language and that all good nations of the world love their national languages.

People reacted against it in Eastern Pakistan in 1970s. They wanted to have their language acknowledged, supported and respected by the state but it did not happen. People in power shut up their eyes and ears to the linguistic variations in the country and stuck to a policy that gave space to Urdu and English in Pakistan only. Millions of people lost their lives in the civil war of the 70s which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.

The irony is that the state still ignores the linguistic diversity and has not been able to come out of “monolingual mindset”

Whose ideology is it and to whom does it give privilege and to whom does it marginalize?

A note on ‘Westies’: the derogatory term is in particular a designator of socio-economic status (linked to Sydney regional area by way of the division of class), more so than ethnicity (though perhaps at this point in time an intersection of the two?). It’s usually linked to a broad Australian accent, rather than what used to be called (no joke) “Educated Australian”. Britta, my guess would be that your flatmate’s desire for you not to speak like a ‘Westie’ is primarily class-based prejudice.