How was the foundation of World Mother Language Day in former East Pakistan?

On February 25, 1948, the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan declared Urdu as the national language of Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan said that only Urdu can keep West and East Pakistan united, therefore Urdu and only Urdu will be the official language of Pakistan.

On March 21, 1948, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah announced at a public meeting in Dhaka: ‘The official language of Pakistan will be none other than Urdu.’ On this, Sher Bengal Maulvi Fazlul Haq, who presented the Pakistan resolution, made a statement: ‘The Governor General’s job is not to tell what the official language of the country will be, it is for the people to decide. A referendum should be held for this.’

On March 24, 1948, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah reiterated the position of March 21 in his address at the convocation of Dhaka University. The students made such a commotion on this speech that Mr. Quaid-e-Azam had to leave the hall without completing his speech.

Khawaja Nazimuddin, who became the prime minister after the martyrdom of Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, was himself a Bengali. This statement of Khawaja Nazimuddin also caused great anxiety among the students of East Pakistan.

Under the leadership of Maulana Bhashani, the political parties also formed the All-Parties Central Language Action Committee. On the appeal of the students and the action committee, a general strike was held throughout East Pakistan on 21 February 1952. Meanwhile, eight students were killed by police firing on a student procession in Dhaka University.

A few days after this incident, the Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan passed a resolution to make Bengali as the national language along with Urdu. Thus, the issue which was considered to be a few students or ‘traitorous elements’ became the unanimous demand of the people of East Pakistan, but the public opinion of West Pakistan continued to interpret it as treason and conspiracy against national unity.

On March 7, 1952, a meeting of prominent citizens of Karachi was held under the chairmanship of Hussain Imam, in which the demand to make Bengali the national language along with Urdu was called an attack on the integrity of Pakistan, and two prominent people supported this demand. There were calls for the dismissal of editors Altaf Hussain and ZA Silhari. On the same day, Rais Amrohawi’s poem ‘Urdu Lament’ was published in the daily ‘Jang’, which had one stanza:

It’s Urdu’s funeral, just leave the smoke

The people were made to believe that the demand to give national status to Bengali along with Urdu is a conspiracy to kill Urdu. On the other hand, the students’ movement to declare Bengali as a national language became a political movement in 1954. The result was that the ruling party lost badly to the opposition party Muslim League United Front in the elections of East Pakistan. After this defeat, Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra also declared Bengali as the national language.

For the first time, the United Front government celebrated 21st February as Bangla Martyrs’ Day. In 1963, ‘Shaheed Minar’ was built on the site of martyrdom of students, which became the center of all political movements. The secession movement of East Pakistan also started from here. The tower was demolished during ‘Operation Searchlight’ in 1971. After East Pakistan became Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi government rebuilt the ‘Shaheed Minar’ and started celebrating Martyrs’ Day on 21 February.

On November 17, 1999, UNESCO, a subsidiary of the United Nations, on the initiative of Bangladesh, declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day. In 2008, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring February 21 as International Mother Language Day, which is now celebrated every year in all countries of the world, including Pakistan.

The question arises whether the new generation has ever been told in educational institutions and state narratives that February 21, 1952 was the day in the political history of United Pakistan, when the Bengali youth in Dhaka started their struggle to make their mother tongue the national language. Was bathed in dust and blood?

In commemoration of this incident, under the auspices of the United Nations, International Mother Language Day is celebrated every year on February 21 all over the world with the spirit of saving mother languages ​​from degradation and protecting the values ​​of tolerance, diversity and acceptance in the nations of the world. To work together so that the great social principles like Multilingualism, Multiculturalism and Multinationality can be accepted in the world.