“Toshamod o Rajitir Bhasha” (The Language of Flattery and Politics): a Narrative of Perception and Experience

This paper evaluates the scientific merit of Muhammad Abdul Hai’s contribution in the domain of Bangla language planning. Hai received his training in structural linguistics in the London school and came back to the then Pakistan with state-of-the-art knowledge. He attempted to address the ongoing issues on reforming Bangla language in the then Pakistan and clearly represented his solution by incorporating pure linguistic apparatus. In this article, we try to show that Hai’s thought in the language planning domain illustrates his observation-centered methodology. His work on language planning also manifests an unbiased figure of himself who tries to remain unheated by the political waves regulating in the then Pakistan. Hai is one of a few examples for the future linguists in maintaining uncorrupted scientific position in desperate times.