It was on this day, 70 years ago, that our people witnessed one of the most important and significant days in the history of our country — a day of courage, defiance, sacrifice, honour, and above all, love for our mother tongue — Bangla. We pay homage to those brave sons of this soil who had laid down their lives on this day, back in 1952, in defence of our mother language, setting an example the world has never witnessed. In the morning, students and protesters gathered at the premises of Dhaka University, defying Section 144 of unlawful assembly, in order to protest the declaration of Urdu as the only state language and demanding that Bangla — the language spoken by majority people in the then East Pakistan — be equally recognized.
It is to be noted that the protest by students and the younger generation turned violent after the then Governor General of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah most unjustly had declared that Urdu and Urdu would be the only official language of Pakistan.
What followed was violence, with law enforcement personnel. Their great sacrifice did not go in vain, as it was their call to the Bangalis to stand up for their right to speak their own language that had, in essence, inspired a whole series of events, including the education movement of 1962, the Six-Point movement for political and economic autonomy in 1966, the mass up-rise against the autocratic Pakistani regime in 1969 and, ultimately, to the establishment of an independent Bangladesh by way of a nine-month long Liberation War. And its uniqueness has even been recognised by the rest of the world through UNESCO’s declaration of Amar Ekushey as the International Mother Language Day.
But in Bangladesh our national image is that we can be easily deprived of all our rights? It is shocking that the supreme sacrifice of the martyrs means nothing to the leaders. If we evaluate the essence of what “Ekushey” stands for then it was courage for rights and honour as a nation. Our image is we love to be subservient? We are known as nation of thieves, including stealing election wholesale. Lying is easy and our educated people are no good for the people or the country. Our people are more insecure than ever. Our mourning for those gave lives for safe Bangladesh means nothing unless we are able to show courage and honesty in building a Bangladesh free for its people.
