On February 21, 1952, Pakistan’s police gunned down four students of the University of Dhaka protesting against the imposition of Urdu in erstwhile East Pakistan, which was dominated by Bengalis. Every year, International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is celebrated to remember those who laid their lives to fight for their mother tongue and highlight their linguistic and cultural diversities.
On November 17, 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced that February 21 would be celebrated as International Mother Language Day. The UN says at least 43% of the 6000 languages spoken in the world are facing a potential risk of extinction.
The Bengali language movement demanded the inclusion of Bangla as a national language in addition to Urdu in Pakistan.
History and significance
Following the Partition in 1947, Pakistan was formed. The new country comprised West Pakistan and East Pakistan -- present day Bangladesh. The two regions were different in terms of geography, culture and language.
In 1948, the Pakistan government announced Urdu to be the sole official language of the country, ignoring the fact that Bangla was being spoken by a large section of people in East Pakistan.
Soon, people started demanding inclusion of Bangla in addition to Urdu as an official language. However, the growing clamor fell on deaf ears and led to massive protests in East Pakistan.
On February 21, 1952, four students of Dhaka University were gunned down by police during their protest march demanding inclusion of ‘Bangla’ as an official language.
There was global condemnation against the incident and UNESCO proclaimed that the day would be celebrated as International Mother Language Day to commemorate their sacrifice. On February 29, 1956, Bengali was adopted as a second language official language of the erstwhile East Pakistan.
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