International Mother Language Day

21st February is our international mother language day.

On November 17, 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February as International Mother language Day for our unique sacrifice for mother language. There is no nation in the world who fought and sacrificed their life for their mother tongue. It is an honor given by the international community on Language Movement of Bangladesh.

Recently Library Association of Bangladesh, Bangladesh National UNESCO Commission, International Mother Language Institute, Mother Languages Conservation Movement Sydney, Australia are jointly going to organize an International Seminar on Building Ekushe Corner in every library around the world at International Mother Language Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 28 February 2017. And we hope every librarian of the world will take initiative to establish Ekuse Corner in the library to save all the languages of the world.

At the partition of India in 1947, the Bengal province was divided according to the predominant religions of the inhabitants. The western part became part of India and the eastern part became a province of Pakistan known as East Bengal and later East Pakistan. However, there was economic, cultural and lingual friction between East and West Pakistan.

These tensions were apparent in 1948 when Pakistan's government declared that Urdu was the sole national language. This sparked protests amongst the Bengali-speaking majority in East Pakistan. The government outlawed the protests but on February 21, 1952, students at the University of Dhaka and other activists organized a protest. Later that day, the police opened fire at the demonstrators and killed four students. These students' deaths in fighting for the right to use their mother language are now remembered on International Mother Language Day.

The unrest continued as Bengali speakers campaigned for the right to use their mother language. Bengali became an official language in Pakistan on February 29, 1956. Following the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Bangladesh became an independent country with Bengali as its official language.

On November 17, 1999, UNESCO proclaimed February 21 to be International Mother Language Day and it was first observed on February 21, 2000. Each year the celebrations around International Mother Language Day concentrate on a particular theme.

The Shaheed Minar (martyr's monument) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pays homage to the four demonstrators killed in 1952. There have been three versions of the monument. The first version was built on February 22-23 in 1952 but the police and army destroyed it within a few days. Construction on the second version started in November 1957, but the introduction of martial law stopped construction work and it was destroyed during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.