21 February is observed as ‘Shaheed Day’

21 February is observed as ‘Shaheed Day’

21 February is observed as ‘Shaheed Day’ in memory of the language martyrs in Bangladesh since 1952.  To establish mother tongue as the state language this day has become a part and percel in the history of Bangladesh. After 49 years in 2000, the world community realised why mother tongue was preserved. In this regard UNESCO has declared 21^st February as ‘International Mother Tongue Day’ on 17 November 1999 and from next year it will be observed in 188 member countries of the UNO.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, come over to Dhaka in 1948 and announced in public that “Urdu and Urdu alone shall be the state language of Pakistan.” It was an absurd idea because Bengali was the language spoken here. So the movement started to establish Bengali as one of the two official language in Pakistan. As the Language Movement gained speed against the stiff opposition of the Pakistani regime a time came when circumstances reached an explosive point. On 21 February, 1952 thousands of people mostly students from Dhaka University, took out a peaceful procession to violate the section 144, a rule which prohibits gathering of people in the streets. Police opened fire on the procession in front of Dhaka Medical College and four students were instantly killed while another one on the following day. The students who got killed were Barkat, Salam, Rafique and Jabbar. They died for a great cause which was to establish their mother tongue as the state language. They are the heroes of our country. History now shows that the very spirit of the Language Movement was the seed the glorious Liberation War in 1971