The importance of the language movement in the history of the Bengali liberation struggle is immense.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the importance of the language movement is immense in the history of the Bengali liberation struggle. It is through this movement that the foundations are laid for the formation of a non-communal, democratic and language-based nation or state system.

He said so in a message on the occasion of the great ‘Martyr’s Day and International Mother Language Day-2021’ on Sunday (February 21).

Sheikh Hasina said, on this day in 1952, Abul Barkat, Abdul Jabbar, Abdus Salam, Rafiquddin Ahmed, Shafiur Rahman and many others sacrificed their lives to protect the dignity of our mother tongue Bengal. On this day, I pay my deepest respect to the memory of the world’s language martyrs, including Bengali. I remember with the utmost respect all linguists of all time, including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bengali of all time, the father of the nation, who led the fight for the establishment of the status of the Bengali language. Whose forward-thinking historic decisions and supreme sacrifices have saved the existence of our mother, land and people.

The Prime Minister said: “On the occasion of the Day of the Great Martyrs and the International Mother Language Day, I extend my sincere greetings to the people of all languages ​​and cultures of the world, including Bengal. UNESCO has celebrated this day with due dignity since 2000 with Bangladesh. Like every year, they have established a theme for this day, the meaning of which is: “We carefully appreciate the inclusion of multilingualism in education and society.” Which in my opinion has been extremely timely.

Sheikh Hasina said that the turbulent days of the language movement in the glorious historical documents of Bengali from 1947 to 1952 have been serving as a source of inspiration in our national life from time to time. Behind every achievement in protecting the interests of the peace-loving people of the region is the history of bloody struggles and the sacrifices of countless people. The Father of the Nation has repeatedly jailed him for leading the language movement.

He said that the recommendation to make Urdu the state language of Pakistan was adopted at an education conference held in Karachi on November 26, 1948. When the news reached Dhaka, students from Dhaka University immediately protested in front of the Khwaja Nazimuddin’s residence. Soon after, Sheikh Mujib, a law student at Dhaka University, used his organizational expertise to play a very important role in the establishment of the Chhatra League in Dhaka on January 4, 1948. At the first session of the Constituent Assembly On February 23, Dhirendranath Dutta de Comilla presented an amendment proposal to include Bengali as the language of the Constituent Assembly. In rejecting the proposal, Khwaja Nazimuddin declared in the Legislative Assembly that the people of East Bengal would accept Urdu as a state language. But to counter this reckless decision by Nazimuddin, an all-party Chhatra Sangram Parishad was formed on March 2 at Dhaka University’s Fazlul Haque Hall, comprising the Chhatra League, Tamaddun Majlis and other parties. Many linguists, including Sheikh Mujib, were arrested in front of the Secretariat for leading the March 11 strike and were released on March 15. The day after their release, on March 16, the students again besieged the provincial council building under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib, where many were injured in police attacks. On March 21, Jinnah spoke out strongly against the Bengali language and in favor of Urdu at the Racecourse Ground in Dhaka. Students immediately protested when Urdu was declared the state language of Pakistan at a student convocation at Curzon Hall on March 24.

The Prime Minister further said that Sheikh Mujib participated in a massive campaign organizing a nationwide tour to transform the language movement into a national movement and addressed rallies. He was arrested in Faridpur on September 11 and released on January 21, 1949. He was arrested again on April 19 and released in July. He was arrested on October 14, 1949 and released on February 26, 1952. In this context, Sheikh Mujib has been in contact with the leaders of the Bahasa League Sainik and Chhatra since January 1, 1950 in the central prison. from Dhaka and has given several suggestions to speed up the movement. He sent news via three envoys on February 3, called a national strike on February 21, and marched around the meeting place of the governing council. The announcement was made after the student procession on February 4. When Sheikh Mujib went on hunger strike at this stage, on 18 February the prison authorities transferred him from Dhaka to Faridpur prison.

He said that the budget session of the East Bengal Board of Directors was scheduled for February 21, 1952. On the advice and instructions of Sheikh Mujib, a general strike was called across the country on that day. To cope with the situation, the Muslim League government issued Section 144 for a month in Dhaka city starting on February 20 and banned all kinds of gatherings, rallies, processions, etc. The students gathered at Dhaka University in violation of Section 144 and when the police fired indiscriminately, some of them lost their lives in an instant, many were injured and many were arrested. Several members of the provincial council left the session room. The next day, February 22, a spontaneous hartal was observed in Dhaka. The government summoned the army, imposed a curfew and the resolution in Bengali was approved in the provincial assembly.

He said that on March 7, 1954, the United Front led by the Awami League won the elections with the symbol of a ship. Members of the Awami League began to push for Bengali to be the language of the state. Meanwhile, on May 30, the Governor of Pakistan dissolved the United Front cabinet by issuing Section 92 (a). All the leaders, including Sheikh Mujib, were arrested. In 1956, the Awami League reconstituted the cabinet, granted Bengali state language status, declared February 21 as “Martyrs Day” for the first time, and declared this holiday. It was that government that took on the first project for the construction of the Shaheed Minar, the publication of books on literature and science by the Bangla Academy and the invention of the Bengali typewriter. Unfortunately, with the imposition of the military government on October 6, 1958, those aspirations were no longer fulfilled.

Sheikh Hasina said that the father of the nation in independent Bangladesh ordered the use of the Bengali language in all official duties. He made Bengali the state language in the constitution. By delivering a speech at the United Nations in Bengal, he made our mother tongue a worthy seat in the World Assembly. During our government’s 1996-2001 term, two Bangladeshi expatriates named Rafiq and Salam from Canada formed a ‘Mother Language Preservation Committee’ with some members of the international community. He sent a resolution to the United Nations to celebrate February 21 as International Mother Language Day. Since the UN does not consider the individual proposal, they recommend that the state send the proposal to UNESCO. When we did not have time, we contacted the Committee for the Conservation of the Mother Tongue and with a decision within 24 hours, we sent our proposal to UNESCO via a quick fax message on October 9, 1999. We looked for the support from member states through our embassies. As a result, on November 16, 1999, UNESCO recognized February 21 as “International Mother Language Day”.

Sheikh Hasina said, we have established the ‘International Mother Language Institute’. We have taken the initiative to preserve endangered languages ​​and their dignity. We have confirmed the use of the Bengali language in information technology. We have introduced ethnic textbooks in five languages ​​at the primary level. We are trying to get Bengali recognized as the official language of the United Nations. A special community is always ready to erase the contribution of the Father of the Nation in establishing the status of the Bengali language and in developing the Bengali identity. With the publication of the unfinished autobiography of the Father of the Nation and the secret documents of the Pakistani intelligence service, it has been possible to stop all such bad practices.

The Prime Minister said that in the spirit in which we have established the right to language and achieved freedom in the same spirit. In the last 12 years, we have made great strides in all fields of the country’s socio-economic sector, embracing that consciousness and the ideals of the father of the nation. Bangladesh is a model of development to follow in today’s world. We celebrate the year 2020-21. Next month we will celebrate the golden anniversary of independence. We have formulated the Second Outlook Plan for a period of 20 years until 2021-41 and we have adopted the Eighth Five-Year Plan. InshaAllah, we will soon establish the developed, prosperous and non-communal ‘Golden Bangladesh’ of the father of the nation’s dream.

HS / AAH