Nation salutes language heroes [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Nation salutes language heroes

Local February 21, 2016

Streams of barefooted people from all walks of life began filing past the shaheed minars after placing flowers at the altars across the country as clock struck the zero hour past Saturday with the nation paying tributes to the martyrs of the Language Movement of 1952 in a beefed up security.
Tens of thousands of people from across the broad spectrum of society turned out to pay respects to heroes of language movement at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital, the memorial for the 1952 Language Movement martyrs.
They stood barefoot in queues at the Central Shaheed Minar from the first hours of Sunday to pay respect to the heroes who had laid down their lives campaigning for Bangla as one of the state languages of the then Pakistan 64 years ago.
The president, Abdul Hamid, was the first to place a wreath at the altar on behalf of the nation a minute after midnight followed by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, as head of the government.
The president and the prime minister stood in solemn silence for a while as a mark of respect to the language movement martyrs.
Hasina as president of the Awami League, along with her party leaders, and cabinet colleagues later placed another wreath at the monument on behalf of the party.
Jatiya Sangsad speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, leader of the opposition in parliament Raushan Ershad, diplomats, Dhaka University vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique along with the university teachers, among others, also paid tributes to the language martyrs in the first hour of the day.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia, along with her party leaders, placed wreath at the Central Shaeed Minar at about 1:30am.
Almost all political parties, student organisations and socio-cultural and professional groups paid tributes to the language movement heroes.
People from all walks of life placed wreaths at the altar of the monument while Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano Ekushey February was sung in a chorus after as the Central Shaheed Minar was opened to public to pay respect after the dignitaries left. The altar of the monument was soon covered with wreaths.
Mourners mostly dressed in black and white carried placards and banners remembering the language martyrs, some demanded uses of Bangla language at all sphere of life.
Artistes recited poems on the Central Shaheed Minar premises, decorated with Bangla letters against the backdrop of a rising sun.
Like the previous years, Dhaka University is supervising the Amar Ekushey observance programmes. Fine arts students decorated the walls around the monument with floral designs. Roads, dividers and islands have been decorated with the national flag and festoons and cardboard cut-outs with Bangla letters.
On February 21, 1952, which fell on Phalgun 8, 1359 on the Bangla calendar, the rulers of the then Pakistan banned any rally or procession to stop protests against the announcement that Urdu would be the only state language even though a majority of the combined population spoke Bangla.
It was the first uprising of Bengalis against the colonial attitude of Pakistani rulers that became the prime inspiration for their struggle for self-determination throughout the 1950s and the 1960s leading to the emergence of the independent Bangladesh through a nine-month War for Independence.
Ekushey February, formally known as Shaheed Dibas or Martyrs’ Day, has come to be observed as International Mother Language Day since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism after a proclamation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation general conference in November 1999.
The national flag is hoisted at half-mast atop government, autonomous and private buildings. The day is a public holiday.
Black flags were hoisted to pay tributes to the martyrs, including Salam, Jabbar, Rafiq and Barkat who were killed in police firing into a students’ procession brought out defying ban demanding Bangla as a state language in February 1952.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police have taken all-out security measures for a smooth observance of Amar Ekushey.
The state-run Bangladesh Television aired live the observance at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Bangladesh Betar and private television and radio channels are airing special programmes on the occasion. Newspapers published supplements highlighting the significance of the day.
People outside the capital also thronged monuments across Bangladesh to pay tribute to the martyrs as Amar Ekushey was observed officially in all district and upazila towns where various organisations also placed flowers and wreaths at local shaheed minars.
Bangladeshis living abroad are also observing the day, reports reaching Dhaka said.
A number of organisations across the country are holding different programmes such as discussion, free medical camps and blood donation programmes marking the day.
The president, the prime minister, the leader of the opposition in parliament, the BNP chairperson, and other political leaders gave messages on the occasion.