and hit back hard. Today is Ekushey, the 21st February, a great day in the annals of our history when Bengalis fought the right to establish the dignity of their language. On this day 67 long years ago a number of brave Bangladeshi youths laid down their lives to protect the dignity of their mother tongue. With that cataclysmic event taking place with young blood spilled on the streets of Dhaka, the seed of our nationhood was sown which sprouted and grew into a tree and gave us the strength and fortitude to press for self-determination and freedom from slavery and exploitation of the Pakistanis. This monumental event took place in the wake of the then Pakistani rulers’ first attempt to suppress the Bangla-speaking people’s unique identity with their own language, heritage, art and culture. They tried to deny our right to speak, think and write in our mother tongue, when they most unjustly declared that Urdu would be the only official language of the state of Pakistan. The spirit of Ekushey lives on even after 67 years
On November
17, 1999, 21st February was declared in the UNESCO General Conference as International Mother Language Day
Syed Mehdi Momin
From time immemorial Bengalis have taken great pride in their language, culture, humane values, piety, simple way of life and integrity. Whenever there is any attack on them the generally peace loving Bengalis have hit back and hit back hard. Today is Ekushey, the 21st February, a great day in the annals of our history when Bengalis fought the right to establish the dignity of their language. On this day 67 long years ago a number of brave Bangladeshi youths laid down their lives to protect the dignity of their mother tongue. With that cataclysmic event taking place with young blood spilled on the streets of Dhaka, the seed of our nationhood was sown which sprouted and grew into a tree and gave us the strength and fortitude to press for self-determination and freedom from slavery and exploitation of the Pakistanis. This monumental event took place in the wake of the then Pakistani rulers first attempt to suppress the Bangla-speaking peoples unique identity with their own language, heritage, art and culture. They tried to deny our right to speak, think and write in our mother tongue, when they most unjustly declared that Urdu would be the only official language of the state of Pakistan.
This declaration from the ruling quarters was a blatant denial of the right of the Bengaliswho formed the majority of the population of Pakistan. But when the brave sons of this land most unselfishly embraced martyrdom to counter the designs of the Pakistani rulers representing the minority of the population, this step was written into history as the courageous action of a people who fought for upholding the dignity of their national pride.
But for the Bangalis, as the years passed by, the yearning for freeing themselves from the shackles of exploitation gained momentum spontaneously as the world witnessed the political movements of the sixties ushering in the six-point charter of the Awami League, the 11-point demands of the students, the mass movement of 1969, and ultimately the Liberation War of 1971 that gave birth to Bangladesh.
This day of the highest and noblest sacrifice is now the eternal fountainhead of inspiration for the people of Bangladesh and the Shaheed Minar has become a very potent symbol of our nationhood and national unity. Herein lie the true meaning of the Immortal Ekushey.
Until 2000, the celebration of the day was confined to Bangladesh and Bangla speaking peoples scattered around the world. With the announcement of the day as the International Mother Language Day by the UN in 1999, the day has been given its due universal dimension and it has become a pride possession of our nation. The spirit of the Ekushey will always give us inspiration to forge ahead as an independent nation that refuses to bow its head to unholy and diabolical powers trying to suppress our identity as a nation.
In 1948 Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the governor General declared, Urdu and Urdu alone shall be the national language of Pakistan. It was an autocratic measure imposed upon 58.6 percent of the Bangla speaking majority.
The young students did not welcome Jinnahs declaration, fought on the barricades, organized the language movement and made it a political issue by sacrificing their lives. Eventually this nationalism, which focused strongly on language, finally gave birth to a new country in 1971, called Bangladesh.
From 1953 onwards till today, 21st February is being observed as a martyrs day. The Memorial erected in their name has turned into a national meeting place. The love and respect that these martyrs had aroused for Bengali mother-tongue and culture, eventually laid the
foundation of the war of liberation of Bangladesh.
In 1956 Pakistan Constitution, Bengali and Urdu were declared as state languages of Pakistan. In the constitution of Bangladesh, adopted in 1972, it is a stated: the language of the Republic would be Bengali. In Bangladesh continuous
efforts are on to establish Bangla in all walks of life.
We hope that the spirit of the International Mother Language Day will help develop in us a deep respect for not only our mother tongue, but for those of others as well; help the expression of all kinds of majority and minority languages and put an end to the dictates of one language over the other. International Mother Language Day
The decision to observe 21st February as the International Mother Language Day was unanimously taken at the 30th General Conference of the UNESCO held on November 17, 1999. DROP
Bangladesh officially sent a proposal to UNESCO requesting the world body to adopt a Resolution declaring 21st February as International Mother Language Day. The Language Division of UNESCO marked the proposal from the Government of Bangladesh as the Draft Resolution -35 and sent the same to Commission-2 for consideration. The Commission unanimously recommended the proposal for presentation at the Plenary Session of the General Conference of the UNESCO. This proposal from Bangladesh was seconded by Ivorycoast, Italy, Indonesia, Iran, Oman, Comoros, Gambia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguaya, the Philippines, the Bahamas, Benin, Blearus, Vanatua, India, Micronesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Russia, Lithunia, Srilanka, Saudi Arabia, Surinam, Slovakia and Honduras. After that, on November 17, 1999, 21st February was declared in the General Conference as the International Mother Language Day.
It may be mentioned here that Gaffargaon Theatre under Mymensing district in Bangladesh had in 1997, in a booklet published on the eve of 21st February, raised the demand for declaration of an International Mother Language Day and for the International recognition of 21st February.
There is an Organization named Mother Language Lovers of the World in Canada. There are ten English, Kutchi, Cantonese, German, Filipino, Bengali and Hindi speaking members in that organization. In 1999 they urged the UNO and the UNESCO to declare 21st February as the International Mother Language Day. The UNESCO in reply informed them that such proposal could only be considered if it had come from the National Commission for UNESCO of any member-state. The said organization informed Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh of the matter over telephone. The government sent the Bangladesh Proposal to UNESCO at the earliest cutting down all the procedural formalities. The Proposal was promptly sent to UNESCO. This enabled UNESCO to adopt the historic resolution in the long run.
It is a great achievement on the part of Bangladesh. Probably nothing equally great has been achieved after the Independence war. The International Mother Language Day is not only for Bangladesh, rather it is for all speakers of all languages all over the world. In spite of that, Bangladesh cannot but feel proud when 21st February has been chosen as the International Mother Language Day.
Shamsuzzaman Khan former Director General of Bangla
Academy, regarding the significance of this day stated International Mother Language Day has gained worldwide recognition. Through all the sacrifices, as our country finally gained independence and people gave their lives to speak the mother tongue it certainly caught the eyes of the world, and definitely created an impact. At the UNESCO General Assembly on 17 November 1999, it received recognition and some of the people who played a pivotal part in it were the then Bangladeshi Ambassador to France Syed Muazzem Ali, Dr Sadat Hossain, the then Education Minister ASHK Sadek, Dr Sayedur Rahman Khan, High Commissioner, High Commission for the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, London, who was then the VC of Rajshahi University and many others. Their efforts and dedication contributed greatly towards the recognition of this day.
A world renowned folklorist Roger Abrahams, in one of his articles emphasized on land, language and literature, and that is primary for nation building scholars. I believe words of educationists played a very major part. In 1951, a speech by Dr Md Shahidullah is historic and it certainly proved to be an inspiration. Some memorable lines from the speech are as follows:
We educationists should, however, emphatically, protest and if necessary should revolt against the fresh imposition of any language other than Bengali as the medium of instruction for East Bengali students. This imposition will be tantamount to the genocide of East Bengalis.
Speaking about the impact of the spirit of 21st February on our culture eminent poet Asad Chowdhury said, Three thousand local languages out of six thousand are now struggling for survival. If you look at India, Hindi absorbed seventeen local languages already. Languages such as Vojpuri and Mithali have disappeared or merged.
I feel empowered though; February 21 is now recognized globally as International Mother Language Day. This can influence local languages and culture in a positive way. But in my opinion Ekushey is not just a language movement, but foremost a socio-cultural movement. In Bangladesh the language movement has of course been very successful, but I get very sad when I look at the massive poverty in my country, and corrupt politicians whos only concern it is to get rich at the expense of someone else.
Bangladesh is on its way to become the world champion of corruption! The spirit of the language movement can help to fight this kind of abuse. Bangladesh is not the only country that celebrates International Mother Language Day on 21st February. Although we remain unrivalled in the passion felt for our mother tongue, other countries and ethnic groups all over the world celebrate the diversity of their languages on 21st February. According to the UNESCO statistics, every 14 days a language dies. Celebrating International Mother Language Day is an opportunity to promote and protect cultural and linguistic diversity.
It is estimated that almost half of over 6,000 languages in use worldwide are in danger of disappearing. Because language is so strongly linked to culture, losing a language also implies the disappearance of a cultures means of expression. For small ethnic groups and minorities across the world, International Mother
Language Day is a powerful tool in their quest to preserve their language and cultural heritage.
Thats what this holiday is all about; protecting ones culture and mother tongue and upholding it with pride. On this day, the whole world pays homage to the martyrs of 1952, by celebrating their mother tongues and dwelling on the importance of preserving it.
The writer is Senior Assistant Editor
of The Independent
