The Japanese manga cartoon Doraemon has been banned from TV screens in Bangladesh. The cartoon has been cut over fears that the youngsters, who are hooked to the Hindi version of the cartoon, will struggle to learn their native language Bengali.
Hasanul Haque Inu, the Bangladeshi information minister, told the Parliament on February 15, 2013, that TV channels which air the program have been sent an official notification ordering them to take the show off the air. The minister said, “The government doesn’t want children’s educational atmosphere to be hampered by Doraemon [sic]”.
The necessity to call for the ban came after several local dailies had called in and complained about the cartoon. According to reports, the locals are worried that Doraemon addicts were speaking in Hindi, instead of their local language. Ruling party lawmaker Shahriar Alam demanded last week that television stations should be allowed to air foreign cartoons only if they are dubbed in Bengali.
Doraemon has been created by manga artist Fujiko Fujio. The show is about a robotic cat who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a pre-teen boy, Nobita. Doraemon was appointed by Tokyo’s foreign Minister as its anime ambassador in the year 2008, so as get other countries interested in the Japanese culture.
