Published: 08:01 AM, 24 February 2025
Ekushey February Is Now Acknowledged Globally As International Mother Language Day
Ekushey February has taught the spirit of self-sacrifice and made Bengalis great. As a nation, we were inspired to establish the right to self-determination and adopted a non-communal spirit combined with a language-based Bengali nationalist ideology. The spirit of great freedom came along the path of the excellent language movement. The language movement to protect the rights of the mother tongue started on 11 March 1948, a conspiracy to exclude Bengali and make Urdu the national language. East Pakistan Muslim League and Tamaddun Majlish protested and demanded that Bengali and Urdu be state languages. The students held a meeting and started the protest. At this time, the East Pakistan Muslim League and the Tammadun Majlis jointly convened an all-party meeting and formed a 'Rashtra Bhasha Sangram Parishad.' In the meeting, March 11, 1948, was declared " Bangla Language Demand Day."
Seventy-three years ago, in this month of 1952, Bengalis gave full support to the mass movement to protect the dignity of the mother tongue. On 21 February 1952, the courageous men and women of Bengal took to the streets to fight for the Bengali language. Many brave sons of the soil sacrificed their lives to make the Bengali language a state language. This is a rare event in the history of the world. In exchange for their sacrifice, the right to speak the mother tongue, the dignity of the mother tongue, and social and political motivation have been gained. February is sad on one side but has its glorious chapter on the other.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural and Organization (UNESCO) has declared February 21 February as 'International Mother Language Day'. This recognition is an honor for us. To preserve the dignity of such recognition, we need to pay attention again to the preservation of the languages spoken by the small ethnic groups of our country. They should ensure that their children receive education in their mother tongue and simultaneously join the mainstream of development. As the language movement has made us proud, it has also made us responsible for specific tasks, which cannot be avoided. If we cannot advance in education and culture and develop human resources, we cannot glorify our language and country. We can't move the country forward. In this case, steps should be taken to eliminate discrimination and ensure equal opportunity, which is very important.
Along with working for economic liberation in this country created due to the language movement, political and cultural development must be ensured. During the Pakistan era, we rejected the cultural divide and nurtured the democratic spirit, which should not be avoided. We should move forward on the path of unity, not division. Progress should be practiced. In the changing global scenario, it is difficult for each country to move forward among these backward elements separately. There is no option to move forward in this stream. Non-communal spirit and democratic culture, opportunism, and compromise cannot be tolerated on the Bengali question.
The nation had to set out twice, mainly to establish the Bengali language, the mother tongue of the Bengali nation, as one of the state languages of Pakistan. The first time was in 1948, and the second was in 1952. After the birth of Pakistan, the ruler started a heinous conspiracy to reduce the mother tongue of Bengalis to third-class status. Bengali is not the language of Muslims-it is an anti-Islamic language. This was made clear at the 1946 session of the Pakistan National Assembly in Karachi. Pakistan is a new state, so Shaheed Dhirendra Nath Dutta and many others from East Bengal participated in the session convened to set new laws and directions. He raised the first demand in Parliament that Bengali, the mother tongue of most Pakistanis, should be recognized as one of the state languages of Pakistan.
With this demand, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan became furious. Khwaja Nazimuddin and others said Bengali could never be Pakistan's state language because Bengali is the language of India, the language of Hindus, and the anti-Islamic language. Those who make this claim are enemies of Pakistan and brokers of India. Dhirendra Nath Dutta was not a man to give up. He left the session and returned to East Bengal as soon as possible. When the news of that session of the Pakistan National Assembly was published on local and foreign radio, the leftist youths of Dhaka University gave a massive reception to Dhirendra Nath Dutta. From that moment, it can be said that the process of retreat of communalism. A new trend of student unity began to develop- it was decided that there should be a movement to demand recognition of Bengali as one of the state languages of Pakistan. The day of the movement was fixed as March 11, 1947. Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad is an organization that was formed to conduct the language movement continuously.
The language movement was inaugurated on March 11 by holding processions and demonstrations violating section 144. Mass arrests were made. Some were released shortly after; some were detained for years. March 11, 1948, was celebrated as Flag Day. During this period, at the Curzon Hall of Dhaka University, a student leader protested with Muhammad Ali Jinnah's statement, 'Urdu and Urdu Allow Shall be the State Language of Pakistan'. 1952 came after many more such incidents. Dhaka University Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad has already been formed under the leadership of Abdul Matin. The All-Party State Language Struggle Council was formed.
The All-Party State Language Struggle Council meeting discussed what would happen if section 144 was issued on February 21. Some of the representatives of the two parties said that it would not be right to break section 144 if there was an election ahead of the meeting. There was a strong reaction to this statement. After extensive discussions, it was decided whether section 144 would be broken in the student meeting convened on 21st February at the university premises. It was agreed that the support of ordinary students should be accepted.
On 21 February 1952, a few brave Bengali youths laid down their lives to protect the dignity of their mother tongue. With that tragic event taking place on the streets of Dhaka, the seed of our nationhood was sown, which eventually sprouted and gave us the strength and fortitude to press for autonomy and, eventually, freedom from the exploitation of the Pakistani regime. They tried to deny our right to speak, think, and write in our mother tongue when they most unjustly declared that Urdu would be the only official language of the state of Pakistan. This declaration from the ruling quarters was a blatant denial of the rights of the Bengalis, who formed the majority of the population of Pakistan.
When the brave sons of this land most unselfishly embraced martyrdom to counter the designs of the Pakistani rulers, this step was written into history as the courageous act of a people who fought to uphold the dignity of their national pride. For the Bengalis, as the years passed by, the yearning to free themselves from the shackles of exploitation gained momentum as the world witnessed the political movements of the sixties ushering in the six-point charter of the Awami League, the 11-point demands of the students, the mass movement of 1969, and ultimately the Liberation War of 1971 that gave birth to Bangladesh.
The Pakistani military regime blatantly rejected the result and openly threatened the legitimate elected people's representatives with dire consequences. On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistan Army executed Operation Searchlight, and the world saw brutality, the likes of which have rarely been seen. We lost 3 million lives, and 2 million women were violated. But the resilient people of the soon-to-be Bangladesh did not give up and they won. They won their freedom. They won their rights, and they won their mother tongue.
It has been 73 years, from 1952 to 2025. We have crossed all major hurdles Bangladesh could have faced, and we still stand tall, so we shall as long as we remember our history and culture. As long as we remember our past, present, and future, nothing will, and no one can deter Bangladesh.
The language movement gave birth to a sense of nationalism in the minds of Bengalis and opened new horizons. It has created a new chapter that has occupied an impeccable place in the history of the prolonged liberation struggle of the Bengalis. The language movement was a struggle for culture and self-preservation.
The language movement immensely awakened Bengalis' sense of rights and independence. Since 1952, the language movement has influenced all political, social, and cultural activities directly and indirectly. The influence was so far-reaching that a relationship was established between the standard and political people. Trust was established with each other, which accelerated the nation’s liberation struggle.
Through the language movement, the first rebellious attitude against the rule and exploitation of Pakistan manifested in the Bengali heart. It can be said that the language movement was the beginning of the realization of all kinds of rights of Bengalis. This movement instilled morale and strong self-confidence in people's minds, which evoked a sense of nationalism. The education movement of 1962, the six-point movement of 1966, the mass uprising of the seventy-nine, the election of the seventy, and the liberation struggle of the seventy-one in every field provided the morale and strength of the language movement.
Bangladesh has now established a unique position on the world map. The name Bangladesh is being used loudly in world politics. In the new world, we are facing new challenges all the time. We must all come together to meet this twenty-first century's challenges. We have to remain awake in the spirit of nationalism. Bengalis have never lost in the past, nor will they lose in the future. With all cooperation, regardless of party affiliation, our Bangladesh will stand tall among the world's nations.
Hiren Pandit is an essayist
and a researcher.
