DHAKA, Feb 20, 2021 (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today extended her sincere greetings to the people of all languages and cultures of the world including Bangla on the occasion of the Shaheed Day and International Mother Language Day 2021.
“The UNESCO has been celebrating this day with due dignity since 2000 along with Bangladesh. Like every year, they have set a theme for this day- ‘Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society’, which I think is very timely,” the premier said in her message on the eve of the day.
Noting that the importance of the language movement in the history of the Bangali liberation struggle is immense, Sheikh Hasina said, “Through this movement, the foundation for the inception of a non-communal, democratic, language-based nation/state system was laid”.
On this day in 1952, Abul Barkat, Abdul Jabbar, Abdus Salam, Rafiquddin Ahmad, Shafiur Rahman and many others sacrificed their lives to protect the dignity of “our mother language Bangla”, she said, adding, “Today, I pay my deep tributes to the memory of the martyrs of all languages, including Bangla”.
The premier remembered with the utmost respect all the language hero, including the greatest Bangali of all time Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the struggle for the dignity of the Bangla language, whose visionary historical decisions and supreme sacrifices have saved the existence of our mother land and people.
The turbulent days of the language movement in the glorious historical records of the Bangali from 1947 to 1952 have been serving as a source of inspiration in “our national life” from time and again, the head of the government observed.
Behind every achievement in the protection of the interests of the peace-loving people of this region lies the history of blood-shedding struggle and the sacrifices of countless lives, the Prime Minister said.
Pointing out that the Father of the Nation has been repeatedly imprisoned for leading the language movement, Sheikh Hasina said, at the Education Conference held in Karachi on 27 November 1947, a recommendation was accepted to make Urdu the state language of Pakistan.
When the news reached Dhaka, the students of Dhaka University immediately protested in front of Khawaja Nazimuddin’s residence, she added.
Shortly afterward, Sheikh Mujib, a law student of Dhaka University, used his organizational experience to play a very key role in the establishment of the Chhatra League in Dhaka on 4 January 1948, the premier continued.
In the first session of the Constituent Assembly on 23 February, Dhirendra Nath Datta of Comilla moved an amendment proposal demanding the inclusion of Bangla as a language of the Assembly, she said, adding that rejecting the proposal, Khawaja Nazimuddin declared in the Legislative Assembly that the people of East Bengal would accept Urdu as the state language.
But to counter the reckless decision of Nazimuddin, an all-party Chhatra Sangram Parishad was formed on March 2 at Fazlul Haque Hall of Dhaka University comprising Chhatra League, Tamaddun Majlish and other parties, the premier said.
Many language heroes, including Sheikh Mujib, were arrested in front of the Secretariat for leading the strike on 11 March and were released on 15 March, Sheikh Hasina said, adding that the day after their release, on 16 March, the students again besieged the provincial council building under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib, and many were injured by police baton charges.
“On 21 March, Jinnah spoke out boastfully against the Bangla language and in favor of Urdu at the Dhaka Racecourse Ground. When Urdu was declared the state language of Pakistan at the students’ convocation on 24 March at Curzon Hall, the students immediately protested,” she said.
To transform the language movement into a national campaign, the premier said, Sheikh Mujib organized a nationwide tour plan and participated in a massive campaign, and addressed rallies.
He (Bangabandhu) was arrested from Faridpur on 11 September and released on 21 January 1949, the head of the government said, adding he was arrested again on 19 April and released in July and was arrested again on 14 October 1949 and released on 27 February 1952.
Undoubtedly, Sheikh Mujib had been in touch with language heroes and Chhatra League leaders from January 1 in 1950, in Dhaka Central Jail and had given various suggestions to add momentum to the movement, the Prime Minister said.
He (Bangabandhu) sent news through three messengers on February 3, calling for a nationwide strike on February 21 and marching around the meeting venue of the executive council, Sheikh Hasina said, adding, that announcement was made after the students’ procession on February 4.
When Sheikh Mujib declared a hunger strike at this stage on February 16, the jail authorities transferred him from Dhaka to Faridpur Jail, she said.
The budget session of the East Bengal Executive Council was scheduled for February 21, 1952, the premier recalled, saying that at the advice and instructions of Sheikh Mujib, a general strike was called all over the country on that day.
To deal with the situation, the Muslim League government had issued Section 144 for one month in Dhaka city from February 20 and banned all kinds of meetings, rallies and processions, the head of the government said.
Students gathered at Dhaka University violated Section 144, but when the police fired indiscriminately, some lives were lost in the blink of an eye, many were injured and many were arrested, the premier added.
Recalling that several members of the provincial council walked out of the session room, Sheikh Hasina said, the next day, on February 22, a spontaneous strike was observed in Dhaka while the government called for the army, imposed curfew, and the Bangla language resolution was passed in the provincial assembly.
On March 8 in 1954, the Awami League led United Front won the election with the boat symbol, she said, adding subsequently Awami League members started pressuring to make Bangla a state language.
Meanwhile, on May 30, the Governor of Pakistan dissolved the United Front cabinet by issuing Section 92 (a) and all the leaders including Sheikh Mujib were arrested, the premier recalled and said in 1956, the Awami League reconstituted the cabinet, gave Bangla the status of a state language, declared February 21 as Martyr’s Day, and declared it a public holiday.
It was that the same government took up the first projects to build the Shaheed Minar, publish literary and science books from the Bangla Academy and invent Bangla typewriters, the Prime Minister said, adding, unfortunately, with the imposition of military rule on October 7 in 1958, those aspirations were no longer fulfilled.
In independent Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman directed the use of Bangla in all official activities and made Bangla the state language in the constitution.
He (Bangabandhu) delivered a speech at the United Nations in Bangla and placed “our mother language” to a dignified position in the world assembly, the premier said.
“During the 1996-2001 term of our government, Rafiq and Salam, two Bangladeshi expatriates from Canada along with some members of the international community formed the ‘Mother Language Preservation Committee”, she said, adding that they sent a proposal to the United Nations to celebrate International Mother Language Day on February 21.
Since the UN does not take cognizance of any personal proposal, they suggested sending the proposal to UNESCO from the state, the Prime Minister said.
“When we knew, we did not have much time; we contacted the Committee for the Preservation of the Mother Language and sent our proposal to UNESCO through a quick fax message on October 9, 1999. We had to decide within 24 hours. We seek the supports of member states through our embassies,” she said.
As a result, on November 17, 1999, the UNESCO recognized February 21 as the ‘International Mother Language Day’, the premier said, adding, “We have established the International Mother Language Institute as well as taken initiatives to preserve endangered languages and protect their dignity”.
Noting that the government has ensured the use of the Bangla language in the ICT and introduced textbooks for ethnic groups in five languages at the primary level and is trying to get Bangla recognized as the official language of the United Nations, the head of the government said.
She also said that a particular group of people is found always active in denigrating the contribution of the Father of the Nation in the flourishing of Bangali identity and establishing the dignity of the Bangla language.
With the publication of the Unfinished Memoire of the Father of the Nation and the Secret Documents of Intelligence Branch of Pakistan, it has been possible to frustrate all such malpractices, Sheikh Hasina added.
Based on a particular spirit, she said, “We have established the right to language and on the same spirit and achieved our independence”.
In the last 12 years, the government has made tremendous progress in every area of the socio-economic sector of the country, embracing that particular ethos and the logos of the Father of the Nation, the Prime Minister said, adding that Bangladesh is a role model of development in the world now.
“We are celebrating ‘the year 2020-21 as Mujib Year’. Next month we will celebrate the golden jubilee of independence,” she said, adding that her government has prepared the second perspective plan 2021-2041 for the next 20 years period and have adopted the 8th Five Year Plan.
“Insha Allah, soon we will establish the developed, prosperous and non-communal ‘Golden Bangladesh’ as per the dream of the father of the nation,” Sheikh Hasina said.