"Mother, the words of your mouth sound like good to my ears."
This is not only the personal feeling of Nobel laureate world poet Rabindranath Tagore, it is the eternal feeling of people of all times. Just as breast milk is the best nutrition for a child, the best development of a nation can happen through mother tongue. Mother tongue is a basic resource of all people irrespective of race, religion and caste.
And the consciousness that is united with this mother, motherland and mother tongue, its name is Ekushey February. This day symbolizes the great recognition of Bengali language, culture and tradition. On this day, the Surya children of the Bengali nation sacrificed their lives to preserve their mother tongue. Salam, Barkat, Rakif, Jabbar and other immortal language martyrs are still the embodiment of our consciousness. There is no other history in the world that fights for the dignity of the mother tongue. So this sacrifice of Ekushey is a matter of pride of the entire Bengali nation.
The glorious majesty of standing tall in the court of the world as a Bengali has been achieved by the Bengalis many times over the ages and this Ekushey has a glorious history. Our mother tongue Bengali has repeatedly faded under the shadow of foreign rule. Sanskrit flourished in the ninth century, Persian and Arabic from the thirteenth century, and English and French from the eighteenth century. Then, after the partition of the country in 1947, the shadow of Urdu descended on Bengal. On March 21, 1948, when the then Governor General of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, announced at the Dhaka Racecourse Ground, "Urdu and only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan", millions of Bengali-speaking people erupted in protest.
On 21 February 1952, Bir Bangali violated Section 144 by ignoring the rifle shots of the dictatorial Pakistani military in demanding Bengal to be made the state language. The highways of Dhaka were stained red that day with the fresh blood of the naughty boys of Bengal. Then the movement became more intense and the whole of Bengal roared. The terrified government was compelled to recognize Bengali as one of the state languages. Since then, 21st February has been celebrated as Martyr's Day every year in memory of the martyrs.
The first united struggle of the Bengalis aimed at thwarting all conspiracies against the mother tongue took place on 21st February. The consciousness of the 21st century teaches us the mantra of self-sacrifice. Encouraged by this consciousness, Bengalis became aware of their rights. The language movement of that day was gradually taking shape in the demands of the time. The struggle for independence in 1971 was in fact a manifestation of the 21st century consciousness.
Ekushu also gave birth to a new culture of national consciousness by playing the tune of the movement. For example, Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury's timeless song-
"February 21, stained with my brother's blood, can I forget ...?" Which is the crop of Ekusher. The spirit of this Ekushey has had a far-reaching effect on our literary arena. Mahbub-ul-Alam Chowdhury wrote the first poem of Ekushey, "I did not come to cry, I came with the demand of hanging." Our literary arena is full of many more literatures created in the spirit of Ekushey.
And that's when he wanted to say ---
"I didn't tell you, but
The standard of Bengali language.
I can sing without fear,
Songs in such languages.
Twenty-one is not just a historical day for us, its significance is very deep and wide. It has given clarity to the minds and thoughts of 21 Bengalis, taught them to set the right path and achieve the desired goal in the face of adversity and crisis of national life, and above all to teach us to live bravely with our culture, heritage, values, national independence and freedom.
The sacrifice of the Bengalis for their mother tongue did not fail that day. The Shaheed Minar was built to illuminate the memory of the bloody Ekushey in the demand for mother tongue, which bears the memory of the glorious struggle of our national life. Besides, Ekush is now not only the day of martyrdom of Bengalis, Ekush is now the whole world. Ekushey February was recognized as the International Mother Language Day on November 17, 1999 with the support of 26 countries, including Bangladesh, at the 30th Plenary Session of UNESCO. Today, the unprecedented sacrifices of the martyrs in 16 countries of the world are commemorated on this day. The day that used to be celebrated only as 'Language Martyr's Day' is today celebrated as 'International Mother Language Day'.
After being recognized as 'International Mother Language Day', the history of the language movement in Bangladesh has gained prominence and special significance in the world court.
Through internationalization, Ekushey February has got new glory, new glory, new dignity. This global recognition of language is our rare achievement in the question of language so we are delighted and proud.
Today 21st February is not a day of mourning for us, it is a day to pay homage to the immortal language martyrs and to awaken the consciousness of new rights by turning mourning into strength. But it is not at all desirable for us to limit Ekushey only to festivals. We have to take the education that Ekush has given us as Diksha. We have to present the true history of Ekushey to the new generation. We must always strive for the development of the Bengali language. We have to take steps to achieve the goal for which the meritorious students of our country have given their lives.
- "Twenty-one is our consciousness
Twenty-one is our pride. "
Ekushey February - International Mother Language Day is the day to take the solemn oath to preserve the glory of not only the Bengali language but all the languages of the world. Today, as Bengalis, we all pledge to spread and spread the Bengali language at all levels. Because in it lies the selfishness of the great Mother Language Day.
Golden son of Bangladesh,
Language Martyrs Group.
Brought to life,
The fruit of the Bengali language.
Mora today in their donation
I speak Bengali independently.
It's about giving up that gold
How can I forget.