Ekushey as a tool to preserve the world's languages

The United Nations has designated 21st February as International Mother Language Day, with the aim of preserving and protecting the languages spoken by all people on earth from extinction. When a language dies, so does the culture, folklore, and history of the people who spoke it. Unfortunately, many languages have perished due to a lack of institutional support and international awareness. 

This loss of language represents a loss of heritage for both the people who spoke it and humanity at large. In 2007, the UN General Assembly resolved that no language should be allowed to disappear from the face of the earth. To underscore the importance of all the languages spoken in the world, the UN declared 2008 as the International Year of Languages – a noble venture indeed!

The 21st of February was chosen as the day to pay tribute to the supreme sacrifice of the Bengali nation in upholding the dignity, rights, and honour of Bangla, their mother tongue. On this fateful day in 1952, Bengali youth from then East Pakistan — Salam, Rafique, Jabbar, Shafiur, and Barkat — laid down their lives on the streets of Dhaka, fighting for the recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan.

This historic event marked the first time in history that people sacrificed their lives to establish their mother tongue as the state language of their country. The demand was justified, as over 55% of Pakistan's population spoke and wrote in Bangla.

From the inception of Pakistan, its rulers made persistent efforts to impose Urdu as the sole state language. In 1948, lawmaker Dhirendra Nath Dutta of Cumilla (then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) brought a motion to the Pakistan National Assembly to recognize Bangla as a state language, but it was turned down. 

Despite political persuasion, the authorities continued to ignore the demand for recognition of Bangla, forcing students to take to the streets in mass agitation. The language activists paid the ultimate price, shedding their blood to secure the recognition of Bangla as a state language

The movement to establish Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan began in September of 1947, shortly after Pakistan's formation, when there were attempts by the ruling class to make Urdu the country's sole official language. In response, Tamaddun Majlish was formed as a socio-cultural entity to spearhead the movement, followed shortly by the Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad, which united all parties in the cause.

Finally, in 1954, the recognition of Bangla as a state language was achieved and incorporated into Pakistan's constitution in 1956. However, in 1953, the Bengali population of East Pakistan started observing 21 February as a day of remembrance for the Language Movement martyrs.

The day began with an early morning barefoot procession to the graves of the martyrs, laying floral wreaths there, and also at the Shaheed Minar, a beautiful piece of architectural marvel built in memory of the Language Movement martyrs. Singing songs of remembrance of the Shaheeds became a tradition and an essential part of the observance for all patriotic Bengali people on 21 February morning. By that time, Shaheed Minars had been erected in all parts of erstwhile East Pakistan to commemorate the sacrifice of the language martyrs.

Various cultural events and seminars were arranged throughout the day to celebrate and honour the Mother tongue. The supreme sacrifice of the Shaheeds was recognized and highlighted all over the Province and beyond. Ekushey, which means the 21st in Bengali, became a symbol of unity and a struggle for emancipation.

The success of the Language movement served as a source of inspiration for all political movements against Pakistani oppression and dominance. It paved the way for the final War of Liberation of Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani neo-colonial regime, where Bengalis received full-fledged support from friendly Indian people and the government led by Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

Progressive and peace-loving people all over the world supported the just war of the Bengali people who were facing a well-planned genocide by the Pakistani army and their collaborators. The socialist world, led by the USSR, strongly supported the Indian policy of supporting the Bengali people in their War of Independence and freedom from Pakistani oppression and disparity.

Finally, with the victory of the Mukti Bahini and Indian Army on 16 December 1971, the first Bengali-speaking country emerged on the world map as a free and sovereign nation.

In 1961, a language movement in Cachar, Assam, fought for the recognition of Bangla as an official language, alongside Assamese, in the Bengali-speaking region of the state. The movement, which resulted in the sacrifice of 11 youths, including the first female martyr for the language, Kamala Bhattacharjee, in Silchar, was ultimately successful. 

Sudeshna Singha, a Bishnupriya Manipuri youth, also gave her life in the struggle for her mother tongue as the second female martyr. They aimed to achieve recognition of Bishnupriya as one of the Manipuri languages alongside Meitei.

From 1948 to 1956, the Bengali-speaking people of Manbhum fought for the recognition of Bangla in place of Hindi in their district, which had come under the jurisdiction of Bihar during the partition of the Indian subcontinent. After years of struggle, they finally succeeded in their mission, and most of the Bengali-speaking Manbhum region was reorganised as a new district of West Bengal, named Purulia.

Attacks on culture and language have occurred in many places, often perpetrated by colonisers or regional powers. For example, the culturally rich Maya and Inca languages and literature nearly vanished under Spanish colonisation, and many languages around the world have gone extinct due to aggressive attitudes of rulers or lack of support from authorities for cultural, religious, or linguistic minorities.

To highlight the importance of all mother languages of the world, a group of Bangladeshis residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada, led by Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam (not to be confused with the Shaheeds of 1952), joined hands with friends of different nationalities to form an organisation, the Mother Language Lovers of the World Society. 

They began lobbying the UN in 1998 to recognize February 21 as International Mother Language Day. Eventually, the Bangladesh government also became involved, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina taking a personal interest in the matter. The intense lobbying and toil of the MLLWS and the Bangladesh government paid off when UNESCO recognized International Mother Language Day in 1999.

The proposal for recognising 21st February as International Mother Language Day was initiated by Bangladesh and moved by 21 member countries of UNESCO. It was heartening to see that the motion was adopted unanimously with the support of all 188 members of the organisation. Ironically, even Pakistan was one of the 21 co-proposers of the motion.

During that period, ASHK Sadeque, the then Education Minister of Bangladesh, the country's Ambassador in Paris (where UNESCO Headquarters is located), and other senior Bangladesh officers working with different UN agencies had to put in a lot of effort to make this historic achievement possible.

In recognition of their efforts, the stalwarts of the endeavour and the organisation MLLW were honoured with the highest Honorific Medals of the country (Swadhinata Padak and Ekushey Padak) by the Bangladesh Government.

Let us pay our deepest respects and express gratitude to all language martyrs of all countries, including our own. Let us observe this day with a solemn remembrance of their sacrifice, while also celebrating the rich diversity of languages and cultures that they fought to protect. It is essential that all languages, cultures, and traditions of people from around the world be accorded the respect and dignity they deserve, with due support and patronage from all authorities.

Let the 7,000 plus existing living languages continue to thrive on our planet with glory and pride, a testament to the diversity and beauty of human expression. While we honour and celebrate the living languages, we must also remember and mourn for the roughly 1,500 languages that have gone extinct over time. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the rich linguistic heritage of humanity is preserved and celebrated for generations to come.

The author is a Masters in Engineering. He writes regularly in Bangladeshi, Indian, Sri Lankan and British newspapers on history, heritage, travelling, rights and environmental issues. He takes special interest in issues related to the anti-British colonial movements, the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the 1971 genocide