(EDITORIAL) It is regrettable that Congress members of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly representing the Hindu minority of Bengal should continue to resort to their prepartition tactics. Mr Dhirendra Nath Dutta`s amendment seeking to replace Urdu by Bengali was a disingenuous move. A certain amount of confusion has already been created in the minds of the people of East Bengal, partly by fifth column propaganda and partly by tactless handling of the language issue... .

Pakistan has to have a national language suitable for inter-provincial communication.

By the simple argument of arithmetic, Mr Dhirendra Nath Dutta thinks that that language shouldbeBengalibecauseitisspoken by 44 million people out of a total population of 69 million. The problem, however, is not quite so simple... . [A]ll the hundred million Muslims of the Indian sub-continent have always regarded Urdu as the most suitable vehicle for intercommunication and expression of Muslim culture. Besides, Urdu ... can be far more easily understood even by nonMuslims in India than Bengali or Punjabi or any other language can be.