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Friday, February 19, 2010
1952 – In Dhaka, East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) police open fire on a procession of students that was demanding the establishment of Bengali as the official language, killing four people and starting a country-wide protest which led to the recognition of Bengali as one of the national languages of Pakistan. The day was later declared as "International Mother Language Day" by UNESCO.
Bangla Language Day, popularly known as Ekushe (21) February, is one of the most significant days, not in Bangladesh only, but in human history because on that day the valiant Bangalee boys gave their lives to defend their sweet mother tongue, Bangla language. Over the centuries people gave their lives for love, faith, freedom, nation and the state. But on 21 February 1952, ever in history, a bunch of young Bangalee students gave their lives in a protest rally at the Dhaka university campus against the Pakistani authority’s attempt to impose Urdu (as the state language of Pakistan) over the 70 million Bangalees of East Bangla (then East Pakistan).
