Photos of Liberation War heroes on International Mother Language Day banner!

A banner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) paying homage to the martyrs of Language Movement on Friday has gone viral on social media. 

The reason is that the banner depicted images of the seven Bir Shreshthas – war heroes of the 1971 Liberation War – instead of the language martyrs of 1952.

The banner was later removed in the face of widespread criticism.

Senior DMP officials have been inquiring as to how the wrong images ended up on the banner, which was hung in Dhaka, said the police.

The banner was titled - International Mother Language Day - 2020. However, there were photos of the seven Bir Shreshthas in the banner. And underneath the images were the words “Our sincere respect for language martyrs on International Mother Language Day.”

“Dhaka Metropolitan Police” was written in block letters at the bottom of the banner. In the top right corner of the banner was the “Mujib Shotoborsho” logo and the DMP logo was at the top and bottom left side.

Images of the banner have gone viral on social media and people have predictably been making various kinds of comments about it.

A Facebook user named Shovon Reza said: “The most important organization of the country does not know who sacrificed their lives for the Bangla language. I cannot believe they would indulge in such a foolish act. They should investigate and find out who is responsible for this.”

DMP’s Deputy Commissioner (Media and Public Relations) Masudur Rahman said the banner had been withdrawn and the matter was being investigated.