She spoke of her frustrations at a discussion marking the International Mother Language Day in Dhaka on Friday.
Learning other languages is necessary for international communication, trade and commerce in this era of globalisation, but it must not happen by neglecting one’s mother tongue, she said.
Besides emphasising proper Bangla pronunciation, she highlighted the importance and splendour of dialects.
Linguist Pabitra Sarkar, former vice-chancellor of the Rabindra Bharati University in India, presented the keynote paper at the event held at the International Mother Language Institute.
“It appears that they struggle to speak Bangla though they have grown up on Bangladesh’s soil breathing the country’s air,” she said.
“I have nothing but pity for those who cannot speak Bangla without having an English accent even after growing up in Bangladesh,” Hasina remarked.
She said many members of her family had to grow up abroad after the assassination of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with the others of the family in 1975.
“But we had placed great importance on teaching them Bangla so they can speak their mother tongue and they do so as well. They cannot be blamed for problems, if there is any, with their pronunciation,” the prime minister said.
“The Father of the Nation used the words of Gopalganj in his speeches without hesitation. It created an appeal among the people taking him closer to their hearts. This is why they followed whatever orders he gave,” she said.
On the same occasion three years ago, Hasina had called for efforts to find a way to wean the young Bangladeshis off the habit of speaking English-style Bangla, a practice commonly called “Bangreji”.
She had also used the word for the style of speaking Bangla mixed up with English or pronouncing Bangla words in English style. English is called “Ingreji” in Bangla. Thus the word “Bangreji” comes from “Bangla+Ingreji”. Many also call the hybrid style “Banglish”.