The 21st
February is regarded as a memorable day in the history of Bangladesh. It is the
day in 1952 when the people of Bangladesh sacrificed their lives for the sake
of their mother tongue. On this day, the people bow their heads as a token of
deep love and respect to the language martyrs. This immortal 21st February was
declared by the UNESCO as the International Mother Language Day.History of 21 February : On 21 March 1948, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Governor general of Pakistan, declared that Urdu would be the only official language for both West and East Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), having mother language Bangla, started to protest against this. On 21 February 1952, (8th Falgun 1358 in the Bangla calendar), students in the present day capital city of Dhaka called for a provincial strike. The government invoked a limited curfew to prevent this and the protests were tamed down so as to not break the curfew. The Pakistani police fired on the students despite these peaceful protests and a number of students were killed. Four of them were Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar [ source wikipedia ]
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| Yeaer1952 Date 21 February Place:Dahaka (Infront of Dhaka Medical College) |
Our Language Movement day or 21st February was recognized as the International Mother Language Day by the UNESCO in November 1999. Considering the Bengalese Nationalism and the importance of the day, the UNESCO has declared it so. The recognition of this day by the UNESCO has increased the glory of our nation in the whole world.
The importance of 21st February is great to the people of Bangladesh. During the observance of the national flag is kept half-mast atop all public and private buildings. People from all walks of life place floral wreaths on the Central ‘Shaheed Minar’. People throughout the country erect ‘Shaheed Minar’ and on this day put garlands of flowers on its altar as mark of profound respect. BTV and Bangladesh ‘Betar’ broadcast special programmes. source
People of Bangladesh can never forget this day. This immortal 21st February is now being observed throughout the world as the ‘International Mother Language Day’ as a token of respect to the supreme sacrifice of the language movement. This day has elevated our image in the international community.
There is a
certain resonance which comes with every observance of International Mother Language Day,
known as ‘Ekushey’ in Bangladesh. There are the tales of old we recall every
time the season of remembrance comes around. And then there are the dreams we
keep building upon the old sacrifices, telling ourselves and our children that
on 21 February 1952, it was the cause that mattered. It mattered because it was
a nation, proud of its cultural heritage, that was jolted into a new awareness of
the struggles that lay ahead find out more here International Mother Language Day 2012: On This Day In History
Importance
of Mother Language day: Worldwide an estimated number
of 6000 languages are spoken. About 60% to 80% of these languages are
endangered, meaning that they might not be spoken in 100 years. Ensuring the
preservation of languages can improve the quality of education, maintain
cultural diversity and support nation building below is an example from a blogger in australia which shows how each country relate to its own way of celebrating international mother language day:
Greg Dickson writes: International
Mother Language Day has been around since 2000 and has a noble sentiment of
promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
For many
Australians who have English as their mother tongue, there’s plenty to
celebrate and we get to do so pretty much every day, moving through our daily
lives comfortably surrounded by our first language. Enjoying the artistry and
creativity of our rapidly evolving and blooming language as it’s taken up by
more and more people across the globe who use it in more and more creative
ways. (I’m not being facetious here – seriously, the growth and domination of
English is a thing to behold!)
But also spare a thought for the other languages spoken in Australia. And there are dozens and dozens and dozens of them. If you speak something other than English, today, more than any other day, use it. Or you could try finding out what languages your office mates speak. Or find out what other language(s) your cab driver speaks. The other week, I had an interesting conversation with a cab driver who emigrated from Poland decades ago and we chatted about how much he still uses Polish
Yesterday, my cabbie was a guy who arrived from Bangladesh three years ago and speaks Bangla as a mother tongue, which incidentally is the language mentioned on the UNESCO site for International Mother Language Day: 60 years ago, Bangla-speaking students were shot and killed in Dhaka while protesting against plans to use Urdu as the official language of what was later to become independent Bangladesh. That’s how important a mother tongue is – there is no more intimate relationship than the one between your own thoughts and ideas and the language in your head that helps form and articulate those thoughts.
But also spare a thought for the other languages spoken in Australia. And there are dozens and dozens and dozens of them. If you speak something other than English, today, more than any other day, use it. Or you could try finding out what languages your office mates speak. Or find out what other language(s) your cab driver speaks. The other week, I had an interesting conversation with a cab driver who emigrated from Poland decades ago and we chatted about how much he still uses Polish
Yesterday, my cabbie was a guy who arrived from Bangladesh three years ago and speaks Bangla as a mother tongue, which incidentally is the language mentioned on the UNESCO site for International Mother Language Day: 60 years ago, Bangla-speaking students were shot and killed in Dhaka while protesting against plans to use Urdu as the official language of what was later to become independent Bangladesh. That’s how important a mother tongue is – there is no more intimate relationship than the one between your own thoughts and ideas and the language in your head that helps form and articulate those thoughts.
Today, I’m back
in the NT where hundreds of school kids who speak an Aboriginal language as
their mother tongue are denied an education in their own language and
Aboriginal language speaking people have little access to government services
in their own language. The NT government’s policy
which bans teaching in Aboriginal languages for most of the school day is
still in place, despite Australia’s support of the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People which clearly condemns such
primitive policies (see Article 14)
So today, on
International Mother Language Day, will you give it some thought? Perhaps a few
small gestures of consideration towards linguistic diversity? Maybe just ask
those questions about language that you always thought were too dumb to ask.
Today, you have an excuse to do so (and you’ll probably find out they’re not
silly questions after all)
I’ll try to. I’m going to be extra aware of my privileged position of having English as a mother tongue. I’ll try to listen out for what other languages I hear on the street/bus/TV/radio. I’ll try to not be shy about taking an interest in what languages are spoken by people I talk to today. And I’m going to try to remember to speak as much and as many of the other languages I know,
I’ll try to. I’m going to be extra aware of my privileged position of having English as a mother tongue. I’ll try to listen out for what other languages I hear on the street/bus/TV/radio. I’ll try to not be shy about taking an interest in what languages are spoken by people I talk to today. And I’m going to try to remember to speak as much and as many of the other languages I know,
Finally youtube video to give you a taste:
