Fifty-four years on, some language movement activists fear that Bangla faces a bleak future and warn that it will be relegated to a dialect unless a social movement is launched to protect it. They also feel that the observance of Ekushey February has become devoid of the spirit the day stands for: a progressive, secular and prosperous Bangladesh, writes Shahidul Islam Chowdhury

They put their lives on the line for their mother tongue. They defied a repressive regime and braved its ruthless law enforcers as they took to the streets in protest against the plan to impose Urdu as the state language on the Bangla-speaking population in this part of the world. Some of them died on that momentous February 21, with slogans for Bangla as the state language still resonating in their voice and soul. Their comrades drew resilience and resolve from their sacrifices and carried on the movement to its fruition... [ + ]

Half a century on, ‘spirit’ of Ekushey
calls for revival

Bangladeshis need to revive forcefully the spirit of the language movement to make the anti-people ruling elite, apparently divided into opposing political camps, realise that the country also belong to its poor majority, writes Nurul Kabir

Is the spirit of the ‘language movement’ of the Bengalis, beginning with a few students saying ‘no’ to governor general Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s assertion on March 24, 1948 that Urdu would be the lone official language of Pakistan and reaching climax on February 21, 1952 with the police killing Bengali students agitating for Bangla to be the national language, still relevant to the life of Bangladeshis who wrested their national independence from Jinnah’s Pakistan more than a quarter of a century ago?... [ + ]

Ekushey incites passion, but ignorance too

With the book fair and events to commemorate Language Day on February 21 in full swing, Abdullah Juberee and Adnan Khandker went around a number of private and public universities in the capital to ask the current crop of students, from diverse backgrounds, what they thought about the fundamental points associated with Ekushey February. Here are the findings

It is hard to miss the hype at Dhaka University, with crowds pouring in from all directions, all day to the stretch of road from Shahbagh, past the Bangla Academy and right up to the Doel Chattar… the food stalls outside the fair venue, the Central Shaheed Minar resonant with patriotic music blaring from loud speakers and the streets covered in colourful lanterns. Students of the university took offence, predictably, when the question – what do they know about Ekushey February? – was posed to them... [ + ]

Abul Barkat: A
simple man and language martyr

by Azizul Jalil

‘Guli legeche, khub thanda laghche’-these were the last words of Abul Barkat to me on February 21, 1952. Student volunteers were carrying him to the emergency room of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. It was about 3 pm on a winter afternoon that the police fired rifle shots at the students near the gate of the Medical College hostel. Minutes earlier, I walked through the inner alley from the hostel compound to the Medical College building and stood in front of the emergency room. Barkat was bleeding profusely and in severe pain. He was obviously conscious as he recognized me and addressed me by my name. I shall never forget that scene on a day that has become the most memorable day in Bangladesh’s history. Indeed, through the declaration of the International Mother Language Day, February 21 has also become an internationally significant day... [ + ]

Ekushey: Our glory
is identified with
global pride

by Md Saiful Haque

Fifty four years ago, on a spring day when scarlet Palash flowers together with other flowers were in bloom, a multitude of valiant youths, like surging waves of the ocean, paraded the Dhaka streets for the noble cause of the recognition of Bangla, their beloved mother tongue. Rafiq, Salam, Barkat, Jabbar and some others sacrificed themselves, dyeing the streets red with their blood, which permanently perpetuated the Bangla Bhasha on 21 February 1952. And that has been recorded in our annals as Amar Ekushey (Immortal Ekushey). The Language Movement was in effect the prelude to the liberation of Bangladesh because from it the struggle for rights and struggle against oppression started to take up steam, which ultimately led to independence struggle which had its successful culmination when on December 16th, 1971, this nation won freedom... [ + ]