When the 1961 census of India was completed, data showed that 1,652 mother tongues were spoken in India. Ten years later, in 1971, the next census took place. This time, circumstances had changed.
The Bangladesh Liberation War broke out in 1971. The uprising by Bangladeshi nationalists to attain independence and self-determination was also a war of two languages – Urdu and Bangla.
(Known as East Pakistan until then, Bangladesh was separated from West Pakistan geographically and located about 1,600 km away. The region comprised a majority of Bengali Muslims who were infuriated by attempts of suppression from West Pakistan including efforts to erase Bangla from administrative, political, cultural and educational spaces.)
