The ‘Amar Ekushey’, the Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day, will be observed in the country as elsewhere across the globe on Tuesday with due fervour.
Different political parties and their front organisations as well as socio-cultural organisations have chalked various programmes to mark the day.
On February 21, 1952, students and the common people in Dhaka had taken to the streets in protest against the then Pakistani government’s denial of Bangla as the national language and imposition of Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan.
Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar and a few other brave sons of the soil were killed in police firings on this day in 1952 when students came out in processions from the Dhaka University campus defying section 144 to press home their demand for the recognition of Bangla as a state language of the then Pakistan.
The Pakistan government was ultimately compelled to incorporate an article in the constitution on February 29, 1956 that declared ‘the state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bengali’.
The protest sparked on February 21 in 1952 progressed into the long-drawn struggle that eventually led to the birth of independent Bangladesh in 1971.
President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia have issued separate messages on the occasion.
In his message, the President said the spirit of ‘Amar Ekushey’, transcending the boundary of Bangladesh, is now inspiring the people of different languages of the world to protect and preserve their own languages and cultures.
“Language Martyrs Day, therefore, has now been appeared as an indomitable source of inspiration for protecting languages and self-uniqueness of people around the globe,” he said.
In her message, the Prime Minister said, “The greatest Ekushey is the symbol of our democratic values, Bangali nationalism, spirit of liberation struggle and secularism.”
She urged all to join hands with the spirit of the immortal Ekushey sinking all petty differences for the development of the country and upholding the democratic values. “Let’s build a non-communal, hunger-poverty free and happy prosperous ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by the Father of the Nation,” she added.
In her message, the BNP chairperson said, “It’s a significant day in our national life. The students of Dhaka University on that day took to the streets and sacrificed their lives to protect the right of mother tongue Bangla and uphold its dignity. Their glorious sacrifices paved the way for a movement for the nation’s independence.”
She, however, alleged that the spirit of Ekushey has now become gloomy with the snatching of people’s voting rights and chaining of them through the misrule of the ‘one-party’ rule.
source:UNB
