Just erecting language martyr's monuments is not enough

In Bangladesh we have only erected a monument which is left neglected throughout the year and just for a single day, on 21st February it becomes the centre for observing a memorial day

Last Tuesday, 21st February I spent the day at Cardiff, the capital of Wales. I have visited Cardiff several times before, but this visit was different because it was on a memorable day. Some prominent members of the Bangladeshi Community in Wales have started collecting funds to erect a monument for the language martyrs in Cardiff. A conference was held at Cardiff City Hall for this purpose and several ministers and councillors of Wales participated in it, along with Bangladesh High Commissioner of UK and some other prominent members of the Bangladeshi community of London. Some Bangladeshi leaders joined the conference from other parts of the UK also. 

The conference was well attended, accompanied by Bengali music and dance with delicious food served on the occasion. People eagerly donated money and the authority of Cardiff has promised to provide with all the facilities for this purpose. Welsh is now the official language of that country along with English. Both languages have got similar privilege in education and administration. I was sitting right next to the ex-first minister of Wales. A Welsh lady guest told me like Bangla, Welsh was a neglected language in the past, but now it has acquired the same status as English. She said that the only difference is that your people have fought and sacrificed their lives for the language but the people of Wales had fought for their language but did not have to sacrifice their lives for it, though English still holds its supremacy all over the United Kingdom, 
I was touched to see the patriotism and love for mother tongue among the Bangladeshi community in Wales. The project to erect a monument for the Bangla language martyrs would cost around 60 to 80,000 pounds. The community leaders and even the ordinary members are eager to donate the money. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina took a special interest and requested the community members to donate for the project generously. Dr Dipu Moni, ex-Foreign Minister of Bangladesh attended the conference on behalf of the Prime Minister and assured the gathering that when the construction is completed the PM has expressed her desire to visit the monument. 
The conference ended at midnight and instead of going to a hotel I was invited by a Bangladeshi family of Cardiff to stay with them at night. It was arranged that I will be returning to London the next morning from there. My host Abed Chowdhury is a respected business man of the city, and his wife Munira Chowdhury is not only an educated homemaker but an enthusiastic cultural worker as well. She, along with others have founded a Bengali literary club named Bangla Academy Cardiff and every year they hold a Bangla literary assembly in Cardiff and sometimes give awards to Bangladeshi writers. A famous Bengali poet from West Bengal (now living in Oxford), Dr. Ketoki Kushari Dyson is associated with this Bangla Academy and she was also honoured in a Cardiff book fair arranged by this club a few years ago. 
Many young Bengali poets and writers of fame living in the UK are associated with this academy. Munira Chowdhury is herself a poet. She has already published two books of poems and also edited a Bangla journal published from Cardiff. They are an enlightened couple and they gave me a picture of the life of the Bangladeshi community living there. Many Bangladeshi youths are enthusiastic workers of the Bangla Academy. They know both English and Welsh and are now eager to learn Bangla. Before my return to London, I spoke to some of the sponsors of this monument that of course we need this monument to show our respect to the martyrs but we need Bangla institutions with it everywhere so that our language and culture could flourish worldwide. 
I have visited several monuments of language martyrs of Bangladesh in London, Oldham and in Rome, the capital of Italy and some other places also. The monument in Rome especially impressed me by its uniqueness in structure. Though it is constructed in the pattern of the Central monument for the language martyrs in Dhaka, a famous Italian sculptor made it a distinctive one by adding alphabets from different languages of the world along with Bangla. The land was provided by the authority of the city of Rome and it is being visited by the tourists of different nationalities every day. In Rome I addressed a small gathering of Bangladeshi expatriates and told them that these monuments should accompany a centre for Bangla language and culture, so that foreigners who come to visit these monuments a year can come more frequently and learn about Bangladesh and its culture and language. This institution could provide opportunity for Bangladeshi youths who live abroad to know their roots and heritage properly.
I remember when United Front Government led by Fazlul Huq came to power in the-then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1954. The design of the present central language martyr's monument was drawn by two famous architects. The design included not only a monument but a library, a research room and a museum with it. But due to the short life span of the United Front Government they could not finish the whole design. Now the obstacles to materialize the original design of the central monument are no more there and in my opinion those who are erecting these monument elsewhere in different places of the world should include a library, a research room and a museum with it. In America, the ex-Presidents' mausoleums are not only their burial place, but include a library and a film house to show their life long achievements.  
In Bangladesh we have only erected a monument which is left neglected throughout the year and just for a single day, on 21st February it becomes the centre for observing a memorial day. The observance may prolong a month but that does not help the new generation to acquire knowledge about their language and culture or imbibe patriotism. Last year in December I was visiting Dhaka Central language martyr’s monument and attended a gathering of United Cultural Alliance there. At that time I was shocked to see that some people were openly urinating at a side wall of the monument as there is no public toilets there. What is City Corporation doing? Are they not aware of what is happening at the side of the monument? We should not observe 21st February once in a year only as a remembrance day. We should preserve the memory of the martyrs in our everyday life so that the movement of Bangla language to make it a scientific modern language can continue.

 London, 24 February, Friday 2017

 

Just erecting language martyrs monuments is not enough

In Bangladesh we have only erected a monument which is left neglected throughout the year and just for a single day, on 21st February it becomes the centre for observing a memorial day

Last Tuesday, 21st February I spent the day at Cardiff, the capital of Wales. I have visited Cardiff several times before, but this visit was different because it was on a memorable day. Some prominent members of the Bangladeshi Community in Wales have started collecting funds to erect a monument for the language martyrs in Cardiff. A conference was held at Cardiff City Hall for this purpose and several ministers and councillors of Wales participated in it, along with Bangladesh High Commissioner of UK and some other prominent members of the Bangladeshi community of London. Some Bangladeshi leaders joined the conference from other parts of the UK also. The conference was well attended, accompanied by Bengali music and dance with delicious food served on the occasion. People eagerly donated money and the authority of Cardiff has promised to provide with all the facilities for this purpose. Welsh is now the official language of that country along with English. Both languages have got similar privilege in education and administration. I was sitting right next to the ex-first minister of Wales. A Welsh lady guest told me like Bangla, Welsh was a neglected language in the past, but now it has acquired the same status as English. She said that the only difference is that your people have fought and sacrificed their lives for the language but the people of Wales had fought for their language but did not have to sacrifice their lives for it, though English still holds its supremacy all over the United Kingdom, I was touched to see the patriotism and love for mother tongue among the Bangladeshi community in Wales. The project to erect a monument for the Bangla language martyrs would cost around 60 to 80,000 pounds. The community leaders and even the ordinary members are eager to donate the money. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina took a special interest and requested the community members to donate for the project generously. Dr Dipu Moni, ex-Foreign Minister of Bangladesh attended the conference on behalf of the Prime Minister and assured the gathering that when the construction is completed the PM has expressed her desire to visit the monument. The conference ended at midnight and instead of going to a hotel I was invited by a Bangladeshi family of Cardiff to stay with them at night. It was arranged that I will be returning to London the next morning from there. My host Abed Chowdhury is a respected business man of the city, and his wife Munira Chowdhury is not only an educated homemaker but an enthusiastic cultural worker as well. She, along with others have founded a Bengali literary club named Bangla Academy Cardiff and every year they hold a Bangla literary assembly in Cardiff and sometimes give awards to Bangladeshi writers. A famous Bengali poet from West Bengal (now living in Oxford), Dr. Ketoki Kushari Dyson is associated with this Bangla Academy and she was also honoured in a Cardiff book fair arranged by this club a few years ago. Many young Bengali poets and writers of fame living in the UK are associated with this academy. Munira Chowdhury is herself a poet. She has already published two books of poems and also edited a Bangla journal published from Cardiff. They are an enlightened couple and they gave me a picture of the life of the Bangladeshi community living there. Many Bangladeshi youths are enthusiastic workers of the Bangla Academy. They know both English and Welsh and are now eager to learn Bangla. Before my return to London, I spoke to some of the sponsors of this monument that of course we need this monument to show our respect to the martyrs but we need Bangla institutions with it everywhere so that our language and culture could flourish worldwide. I have visited several monuments of language martyrs of Bangladesh in London, Oldham and in Rome, the capital of Italy and some other places also. The monument in Rome especially impressed me by its uniqueness in structure. Though it is constructed in the pattern of the Central monument for the language martyrs in Dhaka, a famous Italian sculptor made it a distinctive one by adding alphabets from different languages of the world along with Bangla. The land was provided by the authority of the city of Rome and it is being visited by the tourists of different nationalities every day. In Rome I addressed a small gathering of Bangladeshi expatriates and told them that these monuments should accompany a centre for Bangla language and culture, so that foreigners who come to visit these monuments a year can come more frequently and learn about Bangladesh and its culture and language. This institution could provide opportunity for Bangladeshi youths who live abroad to know their roots and heritage properly. I remember when United Front Government led by Fazlul Huq came to power in the-then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1954. The design of the present central language martyrs monument was drawn by two famous architects. The design included not only a monument but a library, a research room and a museum with it. But due to the short life span of the United Front Government they could not finish the whole design. Now the obstacles to materialize the original design of the central monument are no more there and in my opinion those who are erecting these monument elsewhere in different places of the world should include a library, a research room and a museum with it. In America, the ex-Presidents mausoleums are not only their burial place, but include a library and a film house to show their life long achievements. In Bangladesh we have only erected a monument which is left neglected throughout the year and just for a single day, on 21st February it becomes the centre for observing a memorial day. The observance may prolong a month but that does not help the new generation to acquire knowledge about their language and culture or imbibe patriotism. Last year in December I was visiting Dhaka Central language martyrs monument and attended a gathering of United Cultural Alliance there. At that time I was shocked to see that some people were openly urinating at a side wall of the monument as there is no public toilets there. What is City Corporation doing? Are they not aware of what is happening at the side of the monument? We should not observe 21st February once in a year only as a remembrance day. We should preserve the memory of the martyrs in our everyday life so that the movement of Bangla language to make it a scientific modern language can continue. London, 24 February, Friday 2017