International Mother Language Day

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Shaheed Minar, or the Martyr's monument, located near Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh, commemorates the sacrifice for Bangla Language on 21 February 1952

21 February was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999.

International Mother Language Day is observed yearly by UNESCO member states and at its headquarters to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

This is mostly the international recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) since 1952, when a number of Bangladeshi university students were killed by the then East Pakistan police and army in Dhaka, formerly Dacca.

1 History of that day
2 International observances
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History of that day

On that day of 21 February 1952, corresponding to 8 Falgun 1359 in the Bangla calendar, a number of students campaigning for the recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan were killed when police fired upon them. ^[1]

Mohammed Ali Jinnah(the Governor general of Pakistan) declared that the Urdu will be the only language for both west and east Pakistan at a public meeting on 1948, 21 March. The people of the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh, whose main language is Bengali) started to protest against this.

A student meeting on 21 February called for a province-wide strike. But the government invoked Section 144 on 20 February. The student community at a meeting on the morning of 21 February agreed to continue with their protest but not to break the law of Section 144. Even then the police opened fire and killed the students.

[edit] International observances

The Linguapax Prize is presented annually on International Mother Language Day.
UNESCO sets the theme for each International Mother Language Day and holds related events at its headquarters in Paris on or around 21 February each year.

[edit] References

^ Banglapedia February 2006

[edit] See also

Holidays Portal

First language

Bengali Language Movement

[edit] External links

UNESCO homepage for International Mother Language Day
UN Information Resources
Official related page from Bangladesh
UNESCO Education (includes links to information on past IMLD observances)

v • d • e Bengali Language Movement
History and Events	Bengali nationalism • Bengali Language Movement • Partition of India • 1947 Partition of Bengal • East Pakistan • Bengal • Constituent Assembly of Pakistan • Tamaddun Majlish • Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod • Rashtrabhasa Sangram Parishad • Role of political parties during Bengali Language Movement • Urdu movement
People	Abul Barkat • Abdul Jabbar • Sofiur Rahman • Abdus Salam • Rafiq Uddin Ahmed • Dhirendranath Datta • Khwaja Nazimuddin • Muhammad Ali Jinnah • Hamidur Rahman • Abul Kashem • Shamsul Huq • Nurul Huq Bhuiyan • Liaquat Ali Khan • Mohammad Toaha • Abdul Matin • Abdul Malek Ukil • A. K. Fazlul Huq • Maulana Bhashani • Oli Ahad • Abul Hashim • Abul Kalam Shamsuddin • Kazi Golam Mahboob • Gaziul Haque • Muhammad Habibur Rahman • Mahbub Ul Alam Choudhury • Zahir Raihan • Abdul Latif • Altaf Mahmud • Muhammad Shahidullah • Nurul Amin • Ayub Khan • Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish • Sheikh Mujibur Rahman • Munier Chowdhury
Commemoration	Ekushey Book Fair • Shaheed Minar • Ekushey Padak • Language Movement Day • International Mother Language Day • Moder Gorob • Artistic depictions of the Bengali Language Movement • Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano