Nation set to salute language martyrs
The nation will observe Amar Ekushey paying homage to the martyrs of the Language Movement of 1952 after the midnight today by placing wreaths and flowers at the shaheed minars across the country amid beefed up security.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the authorities have decided to allow maximum five persons from a political party or organisation to place wreaths at a time at the Central Shaheed Minar on the Dhaka University campus in the capital, said DU proctor and Amar Ekushey Observance Committee member-secretary Professor AKM Golam Rabbani.
For the general public, maximum two individuals will be allowed to place wreaths at a time, he added.
Using masks and maintaining social distancing, he went on, are mandatory for entering the Central Shaheed Minar compound due to the present COVID-19 situation.
Similar restrictions were reported from all the metropolitan cities and district towns of the country.
Like every year, Dhaka University will supervise the Amar Ekushey observance programmes at the Central Shaheed Minar situated on its campus.
Observance committee member-secretary Professor Golam Rabbani said that they had completed all preparations and urged the people to make the observance a success.
The Central Shaheed Minar has been decorated with Bangla letters against the backdrop of a rising sun on the occasion of Shaheed Dibas, which has also been observed simultaneously as International Mother Language Day since 2000 following a UNESCO decision announced in November 1999.
On February 21, 1952, corresponding to Phalgun 8, 1359 on the Bangla calendar, the then Pakistan rulers banned protests against the decision that Urdu would be the only state language even though the majority of the country’s combined population spoke Bangla.
Salam, Jabbar, Rafiq and Barkat were killed in police firing on a student procession, brought out defying a ban, demanding Bangla as a state language on February 21, 1952.
The events of the Language Movement led to other milestone movements, including the historic Six-Point Movement of 1966 and the Mass Uprising of 1969, culminating into the War of Independence in 1971.
DU Fine Arts faculty students decorated the Central Shaheed Minar alter and the walls around the monument with floral designs.
The adjacent roads have been decorated with the national flag, and festoons and cardboard cut-outs with Bangla letters.
People from all walks of life as usual will place wreaths at the country’s shaheed minars chorusing the immortal stanza ‘Amar bhaiyer rakte rangano Ekushey February/ Ami ki bhulite pari.’ and then will file past the altar in honour of the language heroes.
A team on behalf of president Abdul Hamid is expected to lead the nation in paying tribute to the language martyrs at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka a minute after the midnight today.
Homage by another team on behalf of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and then by the speaker, the chief justice, DU teachers, language movement heroes and others will follow.
Soon after the departure of the state dignitaries and the above-mentioned figures, people from all walks of life would start paying tribute to the martyrs.
Political parties, including the ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, socio-cultural and professional organisations and educational institutions have taken elaborate programmes to mark the day.
Law enforcers have planned a three-tier security in and around the Central Shaheed Minar, Dhaka metropolitan police commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam told reporters at the Central Shaheed Minar on Thursday.
‘There is no active threat. We have taken adequate security measures to ensure a peaceful observance of Amar Ekushey,’ he said, adding that the entire area will be under CCTV surveillance while the visitors will need to pass through multiple archways and checkpoints to enter the minar premises.
No traffic will be allowed on the roads running by the Shaheed Minar between 6:00pm on Saturday and 2:00pm on Sunday except for vehicles with authorised stickers.
Meanwhile, the DMP has announced special traffic management measures for the Central Shaheed Minar and surrounding areas on the occasion.
A special layout of the area has been released indicating a one-way entry and a one-way exit for human traffic for the day.
Those aiming to reach the Shaheed Minar are requested to take the route from the Palashi Crossing via SM Hall and Jagannath Hall to the venue.
Once respects have been paid at the Shaheed Minar, people must exit using the road leading to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and the Doyel Chattar.
The roads from the Dhaka UniversityTSC to the Shibbari intersection (near the Central Shaheed Minar), from Bakshibazar to Jagannath Hall, from Chankharpool to the Rumana Chattar and from the VC’s residence to the Fuller Road intersection will remain closed from 6:00pm on Saturday to 2:00pm on Sunday.
News Courtesy:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/130686/nation-set-to-salute-language-martyrs
