'Banglish' banned on radio, TV

E-Paper | June 14, 2026

The high court issued the order over rampant use of English words by radio and TV presenters on scores of new private stations.—File photo

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Thursday outlawed the use of “Banglish” on television and radio stations in an effort to protect the Bengali language from English slang, a state prosecutor said.

The high court issued the order over rampant use of English words by radio and TV presenters on scores of new private stations.

“The court has ordered them not to use words which are foreign to our language,” deputy attorney general Altaf Hossain told AFP.

“It asked them not to broadcast or anchor programmes using distorted Bengali language or pronounce Bengali words in a distorted form,” he said.

He said the court order was aimed at “upholding the sanctity” of the Bengali language, which originated some 1,000 years ago in the region which today comprises Bangladesh and India's West Bengal and is now the mother tongue of at least 250 million people.

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adnan shahidullah

Feb 16, 2012 07:31pm

actually mixing your language with our language is good for the language itself.... dont know why they are against it

Recommend 0

Saif Ahmed

Feb 16, 2012 07:35pm

The way the tv shows for young people sound with mixture of english and bengali sounds stupid and makes them sound like they don't speak any language well. However, it is not an issue for the courts to legislate.

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Soomro

Feb 16, 2012 09:28pm

first of all, Well done Bangladesh. and second mixing of our cultur and changing our Language with others is really a Crime that no one today understand. This eventually destroy who we are. I m not saying learning other language & cultur is wrong, but mixing it with our language and destroying it.

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Ahmad Zubairi

Feb 16, 2012 09:51pm

Although I dont agree with legislating it but I am upset now a days with urglish on our channels. We are losing our language and creating a generation that does not speak good urdu or english. We also have many youngster speaking urdu with hindi accents. I guess another sign of our continued identity struggle. Our channels should also take reponsibility and improve both written and spoken urdu on channels.

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Feb 17, 2012 04:23am

While I basically agree that what to speak and how to speak should not be for the courts to decide, it is indeed ridiculous to hear strange amalgamations of both languages and we have nobody but Bollywood to blame for this trend. In a churlish attempt to impress western audiences by mixing Hindi (which is mostly Urdu when it comes to films) with English they have now given credence to the term "Confused Desis." Na iddhur kay rahey na uddhar kay.

Recommend 0

Enaam E. Hanid

Feb 17, 2012 07:37am

Yes, one should care for the sanctity of their own language. Every developed and civilized country follow this principle and not "aadha titter aadha batair". Actually, those who speak mixed language other than their national are in inferiority complex. Our Radio and TV channels should adopt it voluntary rather than against any court/regulatory order.

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