The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mother tongue is a gift of Almighty Allah. From the holy Quran, we come to know that the most merciful Allah has bestowed a mother tongue upon each and every caste, creed and colour. Mother tongue is so important that the people of a country express their ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions etc. clearly through mother tongue. But it is an irony of fate that the then rulers tried to impose Urdu as state language upon us instead of Bangla. But the valiant sons of our country laid-down their lives for our mother tongue, Bangla. Since then, the day had been observed as our Shahid Day commemorating the sacrifice of the language martyrs. Since 2000, this day has been recognised by the UNO as The International Mother Language Day.

21st February is now observed all over the world as a red-letter day. In our country it is observed as the National Mourning Day. The National Flag is hoisted half mast to mark the Day. On this day people of all classes waking up early in the morning bring out a procession called "Probhat Ferry." Everybody in the procession, walks bare-footed and sings the heart-rending song. "Amar bhaer rakte rangano Ekushey February Ami ki Bhulite pari". They put on black badge on their breast or shoulder and go in procession to the Shahid Minar. They also arrange meetings and seminars to mark the Day. Our national dailies bring out special supplements while Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television air special programmes highlighting the significance of the Day.

This day is of great significance. We have achieved Bangla as our State Language. The Language Movement gave us the spirit of Liberation and this came into being in 1971. Today we are free and we have our own culture and heritage. This Day has given us honour and fame. The world today recognises that Bangla is an important language.

We should try for the development of this language. We hope that in near future Bangla, like English, will be used as a medium of speech in different international forums and it can be stated that our Language Movement on 21st February is a unique event in the history of human observance. We are really glorified by Declaration of the UNESCO that turned a national celebration into an international event. We are proud of our language martyrs. We should preserve the importance of this historic Day very truly.

Md. Abul Kalam Azad

Mizmizi, Narayangonj