Ekushey February is the embodiment of our Bengali identity -- the fight for our right to speak our language, to be proud of our heritage. Being able to speak in our mother tongue - whether Bangla or any other -- is not a privilege, it is a right. A right that was rightly fought for by the brave souls who gave their lives on February 21, 1952.
That being said -- speaking, posting, or writing in a foreign language on February 21 does not make you any less of a Bengali. Speaking, posting, or writing in Bangla on February 21 does not make you any more of a Bengali.
Ask yourself, are you really, truly embracing Bangla throughout the year? Do you read books in Bangla? Do you speak to your children in Bangla? Are your children familiar with Bangla literature, especially if they go to English medium schools, or if you live abroad?
Do you or your children take pride in your English language skills, and laugh at how bad you are at Bangla? Where is the pride in being apathetic or ignorant about your roots?
Do you really think making a big deal about Bangla one day of the year makes you truly Bengali? Is Ekushey about decking out in black and white sari/kurta to you? Is Ekushey only about symbolism?
February 21 was about standing up against language oppression. How are we doing on that, when just this there were headlines that local languages from the CHT are facing extinction? What happens when the oppressed (meaning us) become the oppressor?
We were all so proud when UNESCO declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day back in 1999. Our heroes' supreme sacrifice finally got the worldwide recognition it deserved.
Is their story worth sharing to the whole world? If you are proud of being a Bengali speaker, if your Bengali identity is important to you, then you would want to make sure people from outside of Bangladesh actually got to know about Ekushey.
How exactly would we do that, if we only speak about Ekushey in Bangla and write about Ekushey in Bangla?
We are doing ourselves a huge disservice by remaining in our own echo chambers, and othering everyone else when we do that.
We are the ambassadors for our culture, our heritage, our language -- and we are not doing our duty if we exclude foreigners from the conversation by talking about February 21 in Bangla only.
We subscribe to different identifiers for ourselves -- gender, religion, nationality, and ethnicity. As I see it, we can change each one of those, except ethnicity. For me, my identity as a Bengali transcends all others.
Is your spirit of Ekushey so fragile that it is threatened by the mere use of a foreign language?
Dr Shiban Khan is an academic and writer based in Qatar.
