Nation paying homage to language martyrs

The nation is observing the ‘Shaheed Dibash’ (Martyrs Day) and the International Mother Language Day on Tuesday (February 21) with due respect.

People from all walks of life are paying glowing tributes to the memories of the language movement martyrs, the valiant sons of the soil who made supreme sacrifice to establish the rights of the mother tongue, Bangla, in 1952.

The day is being observed around the world as the UNESCO recognised the ‘February 21 (Ekushey February)’ as the International Mother Language Day on November 17, 1999.

The government has already taken extensive programmes to observe the day in a befitting manner.

Therefore, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Shaheed Minar has been decorated in spirit. Images of martyrs are being painted on the surrounding walls. Bengali characters on the walls, Prabhatferi’s song, Alpana has been painted on the altar of Shaheed Minar.

A boundary wall has been constructed with bamboo fences at the quadrangle of the central Shaheed Minar. Lime-wash has been completed on the main altar. Police control room has been set up on the east side of Shaheed Minar. The premises of Shaheed Minar have been fitted with a beautiful red round circle.

To ensure the security of the Shaheed Minar area, the law and order forces have made necessary preparations including the installation of CC cameras. Huge presence of army, RAB, police and Ansar members has been noticed since Monday. For the past two days, no one is allowed to enter the Shaheed Minar area except the person on duty.

Both the president and the premier have issued separate messages paying rich tributes to those who embraced martyrdom on the day.
The day is a public holiday.

On February 21 in 1952, Salam, Rafique, Shafique, Jabbar and Barkat embraced martyrdom in police firing in front of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) as they took to the street to intensify the campaign to establish Bangla as the state language of the then Pakistan, sowing the seeds of subsequent movements for the country's independence.

They were killed as police opened fire on students demonstrating under the All-Party Students Action Committee against conspiracies of Pakistani rulers to declare "Urdu" as the only state language.

The movement for Bangla, however, did not stop and Pakistan government on February 29, 1956 was compelled to recognise Bangla as one of the state languages besides Urdu.

The decision, however, could not stop the movement against repression and misrule of Pakistani government that subsequently led the Bangalee to the War of Independence and the emergence of Bangladesh.