Int’l Mother Language Day observed

The nation observed International Mother Language Day on February 21 paying rich tribute to the memory of the Language Movement martyrs, renewing the call for use of Bangla in all spheres.
People marched barefoot, singing Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano Ekushey February and placing wreaths and flowers at Shaheed Minars across the country on the day.
From the zero hour past Monday to Tuesday afternoon, tens of thousands of mourners paid homage to the language heroes who made the supreme sacrifice for establishing Bangla as a state language of the then Pakistan in 1952.
In the capital, thousands of people stood barefoot in queues at the Central Shaheed Minar from the first hours of Sunday. The crowd increased at dawn.
President Abdul Hamid was the first to place a wreath at the altar on behalf of the nation a minute after midnight, followed by prime minister Sheikh Hasina as head of the government.
Hasina, also Awami League president, along with party leaders, later placed another wreath at the monument on behalf of the party.
Leader of the opposition in parliament Raushan Ershad, diplomats, Dhaka University vice-chancellor, among others, also paid tribute to the language martyrs in the first hour of the day.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia, along with party leaders, placed a wreath at the Central Shaeed Minar about 1:30am.
Almost all political parties, student organisations and socio-cultural and professional groups paid tribute to the Language Movement heroes till Tuesday noon.
The central Shaheed Minar premise was decorated with Bangla letters, with the rising sun in the background.
The national flag was hoisted half-mast atop government, autonomous and private buildings. The day was a public holiday.
Black flags were hoisted to pay tribute to the martyrs, including Salam, Jabbar, Rafiq and Barkat, who were killed in police firing into a students’ procession brought out defying Section 144 near Dhaka Medical College in the city, demanding Bangla as a state language in February 1952. 

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