WOULD YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE?

The people of Bangladesh did – from 1947 until 1952 when the “Language Movement” came to a head on February 21, 1952, now a national holiday known as Language Martyrs Day. To fully understand the dynamics, let’s go back in history a bit.

The area now known as Bangladesh was under British Colonial rule from 1858 until 1947 – when the British decided to split colonial India into 2 independent states — the division being determined by religion. The northwest region was mostly Hindu and was called West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and the northeast region was mostly Muslim and called East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

At an education summit in 1947 in Karachi, the West-Pakistani dominated government, established that Urdu would be the only language used in media and taught in schools. Furthermore, Bangla was removed from being an approved school subject, and was taken off official currency and stamps.

In the years following, tensions built up by those opposing these changes. As a response, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. Finally, on February 21, 1952, students from the University of Dhaka and other political activists organized a protest, defying the law. Dozens of students were arrested and several were killed by the police as they attempted to storm the Legislative Assembly building.

These arrests and deaths sparked widespread civil unrest, and, after years of conflict, the government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. This catalyzed the Bengali national identity in East Bengal and subsequently led to the Bangladesh Liberation War, which began on March 25, 1971 and ended that same year on December 16 with the liberation of East Pakistan and birth of a new country named Bangladesh.

The Shaheed Minar memorial or “Martyr Monument” was erected as a national monument in Dhaka, the capital, to commemorate those killed on February 21. The original monument was destroyed in 1954, rebuilt in 1956, damaged in the war in 1971, and renovated in 1972. The renovation design includes a half-circular arrangement of columns to symbolize the mother, with her fallen sons, and the red sun shining behind.

In 1999, Bangladesh officials asked the United Nations to declare February 21 as International Mother Language Day to pay tribute to the lives lost and impact on the country. The UN approved the proposal unanimously in November, 1999.

The day has come this year in a different context as the entire world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic with vaccines and restrictions on gatherings. Instead of the country’s President and Prime Minister laying wreaths at the Shaheed Minar to honor the holiday, their military secretaries will do it this year. Instead of widespread celebrations, people were encouraged to stay home.

Language Martyr’s Day is a national holiday in Bangladesh. The national flag flies at half-staff in honor of the those who died. Md. Abdul Hamid, Bangladesh’s President, recognized this year how language and multilingualism can promote inclusion in education and society. He also emphasized raising a global voice for protecting the language and culture of all ethnic groups.

“The aim of the language movement was to establish the right of our mother tongue as well as to protect our ethnicity, self-entity and cultural distinction,” he said.

An editorial in a recent Bangladeshi daily newspaper, The Daily Star, recognizes the holiday this year with a challenge to readers that more needs to be done to honor the mother language of Bangla. The author acknowledges that a second language is essential in today's globalized world, but its practice and learning cannot come at the expense of Bangla. They point out that there are not an adequate number of books in Bangla, particularly at the higher education level, using Dhaka University as an example. At Dhaka University's sciences, biology, earth and environmental, and engineering and technology departments, only 34 out of the 3,201 reference books are in Bangla, according to their syllabus. Seven of the 13 departments at the University do not have a single reference book in Bangla. This poses as a major obstacle to students who have studied in Bangla most of their lives and are suddenly having to learn from English texts.

The author ends the editorial saying, “However, in our effort to enrich and expand the use of Bangla countrywide, we should not ignore the need to preserve and help flourish the languages of many other ethnic communities, whose languages and cultures are being obliterated over time. That would be the best way of showing our gratitude and respect to the Language Martyrs and heroes.”

We honor our Bangladeshi friends and their commitment to their heritage – and their language. I believe we would fight to keep our native language, don’t you? Leave your comments below and be sure to check back with us throughout the month to learn more about the beautiful country and people of Bangladesh.