International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day is an observance held annually on 21 February worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. Its observance was also formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.[1]
International Mother Language Day originated as the international recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952, when a number of students including the students of the University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College were killed by the Pakistani police in Dhaka during the Bengali Language Movement protests.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day
Theme 2012:
International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General
Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999 (30C/62).
On 16 May 2009 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". By the same resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.
International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
Source: http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/
21st February: Are we achieving the goal of the language martyrs?
by Barrister Harun ur Rashid
Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
21st February is a day of national mourning and reflection. It is the Language Martyr's
Day. On this day in 1952, Barkat, Rafiq, Shafiur, Jabbar and Salam and many others
sacrificed their young precious lives for honour and preservation of mother language,
Bangla.
21st February is not only the Bangla Language Marty's Day in Bangladesh, but also is
being observed as International Mother Language Day.
Since 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) has observed 21st February as the International Mother Language Day.
This Day has become a milestone in recognition of the right to speak, promote and
preserve all mother languages across the world.
Bangladesh can rightly take credit for taking the initiative for the declaration of the
UNESCO.
Have the goals of the Martyrs' Day fulfilled?
The question posed above may elicit a variety of answers. But the real significance of
the day to honour the martyrs seems to lie in the following:
(a) whether all people, young and old, in the country are able to read and write
Bengali
(b) whether any good book in Bengali language has been recognized and earned
any laurel in the world
(c) whether the annual book fair at the Bangladesh Academy premises has served
its purpose of disseminating knowledge to book buyers.
If one looks into the above facts, the answer may not be comfortable. It is because 21st
February is more on rituals rather than on substance. Some argue it has departed from
the ideals and goals of the martyrs.
Another fact that has been neglected over the years is that many do not who were the
language martyrs. What were the background and life history of them? How many
people were killed or died later after the shooting? No one seems to know the exact or
approximate number of deaths due to shooting.
In the school text books, hardly school students are aware of their background and
what role did they play? There seems to be a vacuum in getting their life history of the
martyrs. Is there any body or organization that is responsible for recording the
detailed history of the language movement?
Day by day, investigating journalism traces some of the individuals who are alive
today in the countryside and who fought for the language. People are aware of them
only when they speak themselves about their role in the language movement. There is
no systematic mechanism to get their stories out for the benefit of the nation.
Book Fair at the premises of Bangla Academy:
Since 1979, the book fair has commenced. It seems currently in the name of the book
fair, one may argue that it has become a venture of commercialization and the venue
is the vehicle for display of cheap love stories and romantic novels. Some publishers
are out there to make quick money exploiting the passion and sentiments of young
minds by urging noted writers to write for them. Is that the purpose of the book fair?
The book fair is to enrich the minds of readers on Bengali language and good quality
books including well- researched books are to be available. If one looks at the
statistics of number of books during the first two week period of the book fair, it is
reported that 259 novels and 141 story books were published. Some of the novels
cheapen the occasion by their stories of romance.
Is it the book lovers want from the writers and publishers on the occasion of 21st
February to honour the language martyrs? The intelligentsia and civil society seems
to be silent spectator in the matter. Have they abandoned their responsibility under the
pressure of publishers and some fellow writers?
What did actually occur on 21st February?
Pakistani rulers wanted impose Urdu on Bangla people, although they constituted
56% per cent of people of united Pakistan. The people of former East Pakistan, now
Bangladesh, strongly objected to it in 1948 when Mr. Jinnah had announced it in the
Curzon Hall. Mr. Dhirendranath Dutta, a member of the Constituent Assembly,
argued in the Assembly that Bangla language ought to be one of the state languages of
Pakistan. But all these demands fell on deaf ears on Pakistani leaders.
The immediate starting point of the tragedy of 21st February is that on 27th January,
1952, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Khwaja Nazimuddin announced at a public
meeting that Urdu alone should be the state language of Pakistan. The students were
infuriated on the announcement.
On 21st February, 1952, agitated students, both male and female, of Dhaka University
decided to violate Section 144 Order (prohibiting an assembly more than five persons)
in order to proceed to the elected members of the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly
to present their demand.
On their way at the then site of the student hostels of the Dhaka Medical College, at 3-
30 PM, (where the monument exists), the police opened fire on the peaceful
procession of students by an order of a Magistrate (a West Pakistani). Jabbar and
Rafiq died on the spot, while Barkat, critically injured died that evening in the
hospital. The two other martyrs died in hospital and many more were secretly buried.
The rest is history.
Importance of mother languages:
Mother language is what a baby child communicates for the first time with mother
and father. It is a language a person never forgets, wherever that person lives. The
mother language is a prism that determines the first notions of the world to a baby
child. The umbilical cord between mother tongue and thought is inseparable. It is the
mother tongue that represents thought, culture and heritage of an individual.
Scottish historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) called the language "the
body of thought". This implies that if a mother tongue is crushed, thoughts and ideas
will inevitably die.
About 6,800 mother languages are thought to exist today. But social, demographic
and political factors are all contributing to their rapid disappearance.
Language experts say that half of the number is likely to disappear as smaller ethnic
societies are gradually being assimilated into mainstream national and global cultures.
For example, the language, Middle Chulym, now spoken by a handful Siberian
townsfolk (45 in number), has integrated into Russian language and once the last
fluent speaker dies, the language will be extinct.
Studies of different languages have revealed vastly different ways of representing and
interpreting the world. For instance, some Native American and Australian Aboriginal
languages reveal a completely different understanding of the relationship between
nature and human beings and how it affects their lives.
Language experts believe that as mother languages disappear, a few dominant
languages will exist, such as English, French, Spanish and Chinese, for commerce,
education, science and culture in the world The disappearance of mother languages
will be a severe blow to linguistic diversity, cognitive science and cultural studies.
Preservation of Bangla language is an issue on which people of Bangladesh feel
deeply and rightly so. It represents the thought, culture and heritage of Bangladesh.
Anyone who wishes to gain an insight into the conditions of life in Bangladesh and to
peer into social structures cannot do better than to study Bangla language and
literature.
Of all the languages in South Asia, Bangla is the first to develop a literature of a very
high order and still holds the model for other languages. Bangla writers in the past and
present have enriched the language by transfusing Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and
English languages in it.
Bangla was raised to its highest fame by Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore) when he was
awarded in 1913 the Nobel Prize for Literature for the slim volume of prose poems
Gitanjali (Song Offering). Within a year it had been printed 20 times and many other
translations followed.
Some educationists argue that the gap between the speech of books and media and
that of ordinary life in the countryside needs to be bridged. So also the grammar of
Bangla language needs to be simplified. Time has come also for reforming Bangla
spelling so as to make it easy for Bangla language learners.
Knowledge-based nation:
Every Bangladeshi has a right to read books in Bangla. But the price of Bangla books
is very too high because the printing paper and other materials for publishing books
are costly. The authorities concerned may consider in exempting tax and custom
duties on printing paper and other materials so as to make books easily available to
readers at an affordable price. At the same time, the publishers must look into how the
cost of books can be made cheaper by selecting less expensive paper, soft cover and
simple design.
The Ekushey February Book Fair at the Bangladesh Academy premises will achieve
its purpose if visitors to the bookstalls are able to buy good quality books, not just
browsing them. A knowledge nation does not grow automatically. It needs to be
carefully developed and nurtured.
Conclusion:
One must not, however, forget that learning other languages is useful in the days of
inter-connected world and to be a multi-lingual is an asset for any person. Since
English has become a language of commerce, higher education in overseas and
computer, one may not neglect in learning English language for commerce and higher
education.
21st February is more than a language movement for people of Bangladesh. Many
historians think 21st February laid the seed of the foundation of a separate state of
Bangladesh on the basis of Bengali nationalism that was aptly summed up by
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib when he said : " I am a Bengali, my nationalism is
Bengali".
Source:
http://www.sydneybashi-bangla.com/Articles/Harun_21st%20February.pdf
International Mother Language Day is an observance held annually on 21 February worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. Its observance was also formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.[1]
International Mother Language Day originated as the international recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952, when a number of students including the students of the University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College were killed by the Pakistani police in Dhaka during the Bengali Language Movement protests.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day
Theme 2012:
Mother tongue instruction and inclusive education
International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General
Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999 (30C/62). On 16 May 2009 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". By the same resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.
International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
Source: http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/
A Brief History of the Bangla Language Movement
Mohammad Bari. 1998, All rights reserved.1st Wave
- September 15, 1947
- The Secretary of the Majlis, at that time a Professor of Physics in
Dhaka University, [Abul Kashem] was the first person to convene a literary
meeting to discuss the State Language issue in the Fazlul Huq Muslim
Hall, a student residence of Dhaka University. Supporters and sympathizers
soon afterwards formed a political party, the Khilafate-Rabbani Party
with Abul Hasim as the Chairman. (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman)
- November 1947
- In Karachi, the representatives of East Bengal attending the Pakistan
Educational Conference, called by the Minister of Education Fazlur Rahman,
a Bengali, oppose Urdu as the only national language.
- February 23, 1948
- Direndra Nath Dutta, a Bengali opposition member, moves a resolution
in the first session of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly for recognizing
Bengali as a state language along with Urdu and English.
- The resolution "... was opposed by Liakat Ali, the Prime Minister
of Pakistan and other non-Bengali members in the Assembly. Regrettably,
this was opposed by Khawaja Nazimuddin - hailing from the eastern wing
- and a few other Bengali collaborators of the West Pakistanis in the
Assembly. Later, D. N. Dutta came up with a few amendments to the original
resolution, and everytime these were opposed by the west Pakistanis
and their Bengali stooges. The West Pakistanis were uncompromising to
such a genuine demand of the majority Bengalis." (-- Rafiqul Islam)
- "The demand for Bengali as one of the state language gathered
the spontaneous support of the Bengali Civil Servants, academics, students,
and various groups of middle class. Several members of the Provincial
Assembly, including some ministers, were reportedly active in supporting
the movement. By the end of February 1948, the controversy had spilled
over on the streets. The East Pakistan Student League, founded in the
first week of January by Mujibur Rahman, was in the forefront of the
agitation." (-- Hasan Zaheer)
- March 1948 (1st week)
- A Committee of Action of the students of Dhaka University, representing
all shades of opinion - leftists, rightists, and centrists - is set
up with the objective of achieving national status of Bengali.
- March 11, 1948
- Students demonstrating for Bangla as state language is baton-charged and a large number of students are arrested in Dhaka.
- " The situation grew worse in the days that followed. The Quaid-i-Azam
was due to visit Dhaka from 19 March. The provincial government became
nervous and Nazimuddin under pressure of widespread agitation, the impending
visit of the Governor-General, sought the help of Muhammad Ali Bogra
to enter into negotiations with the Committee of Action. An agreement
was signed by Nazimuddin with the Committee which, inter alia, provided
that (1) the Provincial Assembly shall adopt a resolution for making
Bengali the official language of East Pakistan and the medium of instruction
at all stages of education; and (2) the Assembly by another resolution
would recommend to the central government that Bengali should be made
one of the state languages." (-- Hasan Zaheer)
- March 21, 1948
- Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first Governor-General, while on a visit to East Bengal, declares in Dhaka University convocation that while the language of the province can be Bengali, the "State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Any one who tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan."
- "The remark evoked an angry protest from the Bengali youth who took it as an affront: their language Bangla (Bengali) was, after all, spoken by fifty-four percent of the population of Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then a university student, was among those who raised the protest slogan and was placed under detention. The Dacca University campus became the focal point for student meetings in support of the Bangla language." (--Siddiq Salik)
- Jinnah meets the student representatives of Committee of Action to persuade them of the necessity of having one national language, but the students are not convinced.
- "The discussion of Jinnah with the student representatives could not bear any fruit but blurred the difference between the student group led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his associates and the student group led by Shah Azizur Rahman. The National leadership resorted to repressive policies in order to crush the Bengali language and put its supporters behind bars." (-- Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan)
2nd Wave
- January 26, 1952
- The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan announces its recommendation that Urdu should be the only state language.
- In a public meting at Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, Prime Minister Nazimuddin declares that Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan.
- Both the developments spark off the second wave of language agitation
in East Bengal.
- January 28, 1952
- The students of Dhaka University in a protest meeting call the Prime
Minister and the Provincial Ministers as stooges of West Pakistan.
- January 30, 1952
- In a secret meeting called by the Awami League, which is attended
by a number of communist front as well as other organizations, it is
agreed that the language agitation can not be successfully carried by
the students alone. To mobilize full political and student support,
it is decided that the leadership of the movement should be assumed
by the Awami League under Bhashani.
- January 31, 1952
- Bhashani presides over an all-party convention in Dhaka. The convention
is attended by prominent leaders like Abul Hashim and Hamidul Haq Choudhury.
A broad-based All-Party Committee of Action (APCA) is constituted with
Kazi Golam Mahboob as Convener and Maulana Bhashani as Chairman, and
with two representatives from the Awami League, Students League, Youth
League, Khilafate-Rabbani Party, and the Dhaka University State Language
Committee of Action.
- February 3, 1952
- Committee of Action holds a protest meeting in Dhaka against the move
'to dominate the majority province of East Bengal linguistically and
culturally'. The provincial chief of Awami League, Maulana Bhashani
addresses the meeting. On the suggestion of Abul Hashim it decides to
hold a general strike on 21 February, when the East Bengal Assembly
is due to meet for its budget session.
- February 20, 1952
- At 6 p.m. an order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code prohibiting processions and meetings in Dhaka City is promulgated.
- This order generated tension and resentment among the students.
- February 21, 1952
- A general strike is observed.
- Noon - A meeting is held in the campus of Dhaka University. Students decide to defy the official ban imposed by Nurul Amin's administration and processions are taken out to stage a demonstration in front of the Provincial Assembly. Police starts lobbing tear gas shells to the students. Students retaliate by batting bricks. The ensuing riot spreads to the nearby campuses of the Medical and Engineering colleges.
- 4 p.m. -The police opens fire in front of the Medical College hostel. Five persons - Mohammad Salauddin, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat, Rafiquddin Ahmed and Abdus Salam - are killed, the first three are students of Dhaka University.
- "The news of the killing spread like wildfire throughout the city and people rushed in thousands towards the Medical College premises." (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman)
- Inside the assembly, six opposition members press for the adjournment
of the House and demand an inquiry into the incidents. But Chief Minister
Nurul Amin urges the House to proceed with the planned agenda for the
day. At this point all the opposition members of the Assembly walk out
in protest.
- February 22, 1952
- Thousands of men and women throng the university, Medical College and Engineering College areas to offer prayers for the victims of the police firing.
- After prayers when they go for a procession, the police opens fire.
- The police also fire on angry mob who burned the offices of a pro-government newspaper. Four persons are killed.
- As the situation deteriorates, the government calls in the military to bring things under control.
- Bowing to the pressure, the Chief Minister Nurul Amin moves a motion recommending to the Constituent Assembly that Bengali should be one of the state language of Pakistan. The motion is passed unanimously.
- "For the first time a number of Muslim members voted in favour
of the amendments moved by the opposition, which so far had consisted
of the Hindu Congress members only. The split in the Muslim League became
formalized when some members demanded a separate bloc from the Speaker;
the Awami (Muslim) League had attained the status of an opposition parliamentary
party." (-- Hasan Zaheer)
- February 23, 1952
- A complete general strike is spontaneously observed, despite the resolution by the Provincial Assembly. The government again responds with repressive measures.
- APCA decides to observe a general strike on February 25 to protest the government's actions.
- The students of Medical College erect overnight a Shahid Minar (Martyr's
Memorial) at the place where Barkat was shot to commemorate the supreme
sacrifices of the students and general population. Shahid Minar later
became the rallying symbol for the Bengalis.
- February 24, 1952
- The government gives full authority to the police and military to bring the situation in Dhaka back to normal within 48 hours.
- "During these 48 hours the police arrested almost all the student
and political leaders associated with the language movement." (--
Talukder Muniruzzaman)
- February 25, 1952
- The Dhaka University is closed sine die.
- "In the face of these repressive measures, the movement lost its momentum in Dhaka. But it spread widely throughout the districts ... In addition to demands for recognition of Bengali as one of state languages of Pakistan, students now began to call for the resignation of the 'bloody' Nurul Amin cabinet ... Nurul Amin claimed that the government "had saved the province from disaster and chaos" by its repressive measures. The students, however, argued that they had already "written the success story of the movement on the streets with their blood." In retrospect, whatever the merits of government and student actions, it is clear that the movement did sow the seeds of a secular-linguistic Bengali nationalism in east Bengal. Its immediate impact was to prepare the ground for the complete routing of the Muslim League in the 1954 elections by a United Front of opposition political parties, on a nationalistic planck of cultural, political and economic autonomy for East Bengal." (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman)
- "The Language Movement added a new dimension to politics in Pakistan. It left deep impression on the minds of the younger generation of Bengalis and imbued them with the spirit of Bengali nationalism. The passion of Bengali nationalism which was aroused by the Language Movement shall kindle in the hearts of the Bengalis forever ... Perhaps very few people realised then that with the bloodshed in 1952 the new-born state of Pakistan had in fact started to bleed to death." (-- Rafiqul Islam)
Results
- May 7, 1954
- The Pakistan government recognizes Bangla as a state language.
- Feb 26, 1956
- The Constituent Assembly passes the first Constitution of Pakistan recognizing Bangla as a State Language.
- March 23, 1956
- The first Constitution of Pakistan comes into effect.
- March 26, 1971
- Bangladesh become an independent nation.
Sources
http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/ekushe.html21st February: Are we achieving the goal of the language martyrs?
by Barrister Harun ur Rashid
Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
21st February is a day of national mourning and reflection. It is the Language Martyr's
Day. On this day in 1952, Barkat, Rafiq, Shafiur, Jabbar and Salam and many others
sacrificed their young precious lives for honour and preservation of mother language,
Bangla.
21st February is not only the Bangla Language Marty's Day in Bangladesh, but also is
being observed as International Mother Language Day.
Since 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) has observed 21st February as the International Mother Language Day.
This Day has become a milestone in recognition of the right to speak, promote and
preserve all mother languages across the world.
Bangladesh can rightly take credit for taking the initiative for the declaration of the
UNESCO.
Have the goals of the Martyrs' Day fulfilled?
The question posed above may elicit a variety of answers. But the real significance of
the day to honour the martyrs seems to lie in the following:
(a) whether all people, young and old, in the country are able to read and write
Bengali
(b) whether any good book in Bengali language has been recognized and earned
any laurel in the world
(c) whether the annual book fair at the Bangladesh Academy premises has served
its purpose of disseminating knowledge to book buyers.
If one looks into the above facts, the answer may not be comfortable. It is because 21st
February is more on rituals rather than on substance. Some argue it has departed from
the ideals and goals of the martyrs.
Another fact that has been neglected over the years is that many do not who were the
language martyrs. What were the background and life history of them? How many
people were killed or died later after the shooting? No one seems to know the exact or
approximate number of deaths due to shooting.
In the school text books, hardly school students are aware of their background and
what role did they play? There seems to be a vacuum in getting their life history of the
martyrs. Is there any body or organization that is responsible for recording the
detailed history of the language movement?
Day by day, investigating journalism traces some of the individuals who are alive
today in the countryside and who fought for the language. People are aware of them
only when they speak themselves about their role in the language movement. There is
no systematic mechanism to get their stories out for the benefit of the nation.
Book Fair at the premises of Bangla Academy:
Since 1979, the book fair has commenced. It seems currently in the name of the book
fair, one may argue that it has become a venture of commercialization and the venue
is the vehicle for display of cheap love stories and romantic novels. Some publishers
are out there to make quick money exploiting the passion and sentiments of young
minds by urging noted writers to write for them. Is that the purpose of the book fair?
The book fair is to enrich the minds of readers on Bengali language and good quality
books including well- researched books are to be available. If one looks at the
statistics of number of books during the first two week period of the book fair, it is
reported that 259 novels and 141 story books were published. Some of the novels
cheapen the occasion by their stories of romance.
Is it the book lovers want from the writers and publishers on the occasion of 21st
February to honour the language martyrs? The intelligentsia and civil society seems
to be silent spectator in the matter. Have they abandoned their responsibility under the
pressure of publishers and some fellow writers?
What did actually occur on 21st February?
Pakistani rulers wanted impose Urdu on Bangla people, although they constituted
56% per cent of people of united Pakistan. The people of former East Pakistan, now
Bangladesh, strongly objected to it in 1948 when Mr. Jinnah had announced it in the
Curzon Hall. Mr. Dhirendranath Dutta, a member of the Constituent Assembly,
argued in the Assembly that Bangla language ought to be one of the state languages of
Pakistan. But all these demands fell on deaf ears on Pakistani leaders.
The immediate starting point of the tragedy of 21st February is that on 27th January,
1952, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Khwaja Nazimuddin announced at a public
meeting that Urdu alone should be the state language of Pakistan. The students were
infuriated on the announcement.
On 21st February, 1952, agitated students, both male and female, of Dhaka University
decided to violate Section 144 Order (prohibiting an assembly more than five persons)
in order to proceed to the elected members of the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly
to present their demand.
On their way at the then site of the student hostels of the Dhaka Medical College, at 3-
30 PM, (where the monument exists), the police opened fire on the peaceful
procession of students by an order of a Magistrate (a West Pakistani). Jabbar and
Rafiq died on the spot, while Barkat, critically injured died that evening in the
hospital. The two other martyrs died in hospital and many more were secretly buried.
The rest is history.
Importance of mother languages:
Mother language is what a baby child communicates for the first time with mother
and father. It is a language a person never forgets, wherever that person lives. The
mother language is a prism that determines the first notions of the world to a baby
child. The umbilical cord between mother tongue and thought is inseparable. It is the
mother tongue that represents thought, culture and heritage of an individual.
Scottish historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) called the language "the
body of thought". This implies that if a mother tongue is crushed, thoughts and ideas
will inevitably die.
About 6,800 mother languages are thought to exist today. But social, demographic
and political factors are all contributing to their rapid disappearance.
Language experts say that half of the number is likely to disappear as smaller ethnic
societies are gradually being assimilated into mainstream national and global cultures.
For example, the language, Middle Chulym, now spoken by a handful Siberian
townsfolk (45 in number), has integrated into Russian language and once the last
fluent speaker dies, the language will be extinct.
Studies of different languages have revealed vastly different ways of representing and
interpreting the world. For instance, some Native American and Australian Aboriginal
languages reveal a completely different understanding of the relationship between
nature and human beings and how it affects their lives.
Language experts believe that as mother languages disappear, a few dominant
languages will exist, such as English, French, Spanish and Chinese, for commerce,
education, science and culture in the world The disappearance of mother languages
will be a severe blow to linguistic diversity, cognitive science and cultural studies.
Preservation of Bangla language is an issue on which people of Bangladesh feel
deeply and rightly so. It represents the thought, culture and heritage of Bangladesh.
Anyone who wishes to gain an insight into the conditions of life in Bangladesh and to
peer into social structures cannot do better than to study Bangla language and
literature.
Of all the languages in South Asia, Bangla is the first to develop a literature of a very
high order and still holds the model for other languages. Bangla writers in the past and
present have enriched the language by transfusing Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and
English languages in it.
Bangla was raised to its highest fame by Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore) when he was
awarded in 1913 the Nobel Prize for Literature for the slim volume of prose poems
Gitanjali (Song Offering). Within a year it had been printed 20 times and many other
translations followed.
Some educationists argue that the gap between the speech of books and media and
that of ordinary life in the countryside needs to be bridged. So also the grammar of
Bangla language needs to be simplified. Time has come also for reforming Bangla
spelling so as to make it easy for Bangla language learners.
Knowledge-based nation:
Every Bangladeshi has a right to read books in Bangla. But the price of Bangla books
is very too high because the printing paper and other materials for publishing books
are costly. The authorities concerned may consider in exempting tax and custom
duties on printing paper and other materials so as to make books easily available to
readers at an affordable price. At the same time, the publishers must look into how the
cost of books can be made cheaper by selecting less expensive paper, soft cover and
simple design.
The Ekushey February Book Fair at the Bangladesh Academy premises will achieve
its purpose if visitors to the bookstalls are able to buy good quality books, not just
browsing them. A knowledge nation does not grow automatically. It needs to be
carefully developed and nurtured.
Conclusion:
One must not, however, forget that learning other languages is useful in the days of
inter-connected world and to be a multi-lingual is an asset for any person. Since
English has become a language of commerce, higher education in overseas and
computer, one may not neglect in learning English language for commerce and higher
education.
21st February is more than a language movement for people of Bangladesh. Many
historians think 21st February laid the seed of the foundation of a separate state of
Bangladesh on the basis of Bengali nationalism that was aptly summed up by
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib when he said : " I am a Bengali, my nationalism is
Bengali".
Source:
http://www.sydneybashi-bangla.com/Articles/Harun_21st%20February.pdf
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