With the clock striking 12am today people from all walks of life began to pour into Shaheed Minar all over the country to pay their homage to those who laid down their lives to establish Bangla as a state language on February 21 in 1952.
In the first hour of the day, President M Abdul Hamid paid homage to language movement martyrs placing floral wreaths at the central Shaheed Minar in the capital at 12:01am.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also ruling Awami League president, placed wreaths along with her cabinet and party colleagues.
They stood there in silence for a minute in honour of the language heroes.
Soon after the President and Prime Minister’s homage Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushan Ershad paid tributes to the martyrs of the language movement along with her party colleagues.
The president, prime minister, opposition leader in separate messages on the eve of the day paid glowing tributes to the martyrs of the language movement.
This year the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia did not go to the central Shaheed Minar to pay homage like every year but in a statement issued yesterday she recalled the martyrdom of Language heroes on the eve of the International Language Day.
She also wished the success of the programmes undertaken by different social, cultural and political organisations to mark the day.
Khaleda also called upon her party members to be united and wage tougher movement, drawing inspiration from the language movement.
In the same statement, she called for safety and security of lives, ensuring people’s freedom of expression and democratic rights.
Irina Bokova, UNESCO director general in her statement on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of International Mother Language Day said: “The day is a moment for all of us to raise the flag for the importance of mother tongue to all educational efforts, to enhance the quality of learning and to reach the unreached.”
Every girl and boy, every woman and man must have the tools to participate fully in the lives of their societies – this is a basic human right and it is a force for the sustainability of all development, Bokova also said in the statement published on the UNESCO website.
The Central Shaheed Minar and its adjacent areas on Dhaka University campus was decorated with different look with street paintings and hanging Bangla alphabets from branches of trees and pasting on walls.
Tight security was ensured in and around the venue to avert any untoward incident.
February 21 is observed across the world as the Unesco recognised International Mother Language Day since November 17, 1999.
The day is a public holiday. The national flag will fly at half-mast at all government, autonomous and private buildings.
People from all walks of life like political leaders, Dhaka University teachers, diplomats and representatives of various organisations and general public gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar at midnight with floral wreaths and sang “Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February” in chorus to pay their deepest respects to the heroes of the Language Movement.
On February 21, 1952, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat, Abdus Salam and a nine-year-old boy named Ohiullah embraced martyrdom when police opened fire on a protest rally demanding Bangla as the state language in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Another Shafiur Rahman died the next day. The protests began against a conspiracy by the then Pakistan leaders to declare Urdu as the only state language.
Political-social-cultural-professional organisations have chalked out various programmes to observe the day.
