Amor Ekush-er Ponchash Bothshor
mwzaman
Event
A tribute to the Language Martrys
Cultural Correspondent
Bangla Academy has arranged a series of discussions and cultural
evenings in its auditorium to mark the auspicious occasion of the 50th
anniverasary of Language Movement. A discussion program was held at
the auditorium of Bangla Academy on the evening of February 7, 2002
marking the 50th anniversary of Language Movement.
Burdwan House is a historical building in the city that houses the
institution of Bangla Academy since December 3, 1955. Titled 'Amar
Ekush-er Ponchash Bothshor: Adhunik Bangla Gaan-er Roop Roopantar',
the discussion was attended by Dr. Karunamoy Goswami and was presided
over by Mostafa Zaman Abbasi, Director General of Bangladesh
Shilpakala Academy.
Mohammad Rafiquzzaman read out a paper where he mentioned about the
intrusion of alien culture in our society. He further commented on the
rough side of the heavy metallic band groups and about their live
concerts that are being held all around the country in recent times.
The sponsors are belonging to a particular class of neo-elites.
Observing the behaviour of the boys and a copycat cultural projection
of the Western world, it seemed to the elderly scholar that there had
been no such thing as Language Movement or War of Independence in the
history of this country.
A few poets and writers like Poet Ishwaar Chandra Gupt and Nidhu Babu
who possessed attitude of boldness, got segregated from the crowd and
came forward to eradicate the dark episodes and events, decades from
now. Rafiquzzaman hoped that once again some young and enlightened
scholars would soon arrive among the common people to help them
advance towards the right path in life.
As he added, there lay a few reasons to become hopeful and one is that
in the present times several poets like Abid Anwar and Nasir Ahmed are
showing keenness in composition of songs. We have already been
presented with a number of songs by these multi-talented young
personalities and new talents are receiving motivation and inspiration
from these poets and composers. Besides, we need creative singers who
would be able to match their exponence with those of the knowledgable
songwriters and composers.
Dr. Karunamoy Goswami in his role as a discussant highlighted on the
recently introduced video formatting of scenes with background songs.
The procedure has brought a new dimension in songs yet fanciful
setting is often diminishing the quality of an otherwise sophisticated
song, as he felt. It seemed that the electronic media has a lack of
coordinated effort in bringing out the sophistication of a song when
the issue of filming has come into consideration.
Goswami felt that a television channel or radio station has to have
some academic contribution towards the artists and unit members along
with the usual trend of presentation of performance. A complete
development of the classical Bangla song can be achieved only through
a joint collaboration and effort from the artist, composer, writer and
critic.
Mostafa Zaman Abbasi in his speech mentioned about some concerning
issues related with the classical songs of Bangladesh. 'The overall
condition of songs in this country is highly fragile and therefore all
must give absolute attention to this medium of art. Number of
well-trained song instructors have fallen since long and same has
happened to the state of musical instruments', mentioned the bearded
Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. As felt by the
well-known singer-turned-adminstrator, song in this part of the world
has gone down to the level of a commercial item. The rich tradition
and sophistication of Bangla songs should have to be brought back, at
any cost.
As Abbasi added, 'Satellite invasion will, in no way, be able to
disrupt our traditional cultural ideology. The best songs should be
aired on regular basis over television and radio, not only on some
particular eventful day of the year. Ingredients from folk songs,
which is one of our main basic traditional items, should be picked out
and utilised to culminate in the richness and development of the
modern songs of Bangladesh'.
Later on in the evening, a musical soiree was presented in honour of
the guests.
Today's events are scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. with an
introductory song. A discussion program will be held at the auditorium
on 'Amar Ekush-er Ponchas Bothshor: Bangladesh-er bivinno jatishotta-r
bhasha O shangskriti'. Professor Aftab Ahmed and Sanjeev Drong will be
present as discussants to be presided over by Professor Abul Kalam
Monzur Morshed. The evening will be rounded off through a special
musical rendezvous.
(The Daily Star, Feb. 9, 2002)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Daily Star, Feb. 9, 2002)
A month of events and festivals
Culture Desk
Different Ministries of the Government have chalked out elaborate
programs to observe the month of February in a befitting manner
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh has
drawn up schedules of several programs and events to observe the 50th
anniversary of Language Movement and the International Mother Language
Day 2002.
The Foreign Ministry has decided to bring out special supplement in
important international newspapers and journals to observe the
International Mother Language Day and to highlight the importance of
the Language Movement of Bangladesh to the foreign world. The Ministry
has also made preparations to hold seminars and cultural events in
mission offices of the Bangladeshi Embassies and High Commissions
abroad.
At home, the Government has arranged cultural programs at the
premises of Shaheed Minar, book fair at Bangla Academy and publication
of memoirs at Shilpakala Academy.
To mark the day of February 21, special seminars and cultural events
will be held at the Bangla Academy Botomul from February 16 to 19.
Contests of drama, recitation, painting and cultural events will be
held at Bangladesh Shishu Academy from February 17 to 20.
A monthlong traditional rural fair of handicraft items will be held at
Sonargaon in the outskirts of Dhaka.
The Ministry of Textiles will host a textile exposition and fashion
show of traditional designs on February 25.
The Ministry of Information has started a countrywide exhibition of
films and posters along with distribution of supplements on Language
Movement that would continue till February 21.
Local adminstrations have chalked out elaborate programs to observe
the month of Language Movement in a befitting manner that would
continue from February 1 till February 28. The local Shaheed Minars of
all districts and Upazillas are being garlanded with floral wreaths
accompanied by performance of cultural events.
Events and contests of essay writing, recitation, drama and painting
will be arranged among children at district levels from February 15
til February 20.
Book fairs will be held in all districts headquarters from February 18
till February 21 to observe the 50th anniversary of Language Movement
and the International Mother Language Day 2002.
The Ministry of Information has decided to organise mobile film shows
from February 15 till February 21 in different parts of the country.
The students of the Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Dhaka
have taken full preparation of their respective assignments of
decoration, painting, wall inscription, alpana illustration and
construction of stage, which are to be done within the next week, to
observe the immortal Ekushey in a deserving manner. (The Daily star,
Feb. 9, 2002)
mwzaman
Golden Jubilee of Ekushey February
by A.U.M. Fakhruddin
Fifty years have elapsed since the tragic event of the Twenty-first
February of 1952 when a few valiant sons of the soil sacrificed their
lives for the cause of their mother tongue Bangla. This year the
nation observes its fiftieth anniversary. Like surging waves of the
sea a multitude of intrepid youths paraded the streets of Dhaka for
the noble cause of the recognition of Bangla, their beloved mother
tongue. Crimson Krishnachura flowers were in full bloom. And Barkat,
Jabbar, Rafiq, Salahuddin and some others dyed the city streets red
with their blood which permanently pronounced the perpetuity of the
Banglabhasha on 21 February 1952 that has been recorded in our annals
as the Immortal Ekushey.
The Language Movement was in a sense the prelude to the Liberation War
of Bangladesh because from it sprouted up the struggle for
independence, which had its successful culmination on 16 December 1971
when Bangladesh won freedom. Hence the unique importance of the
Ekushey, and this is why every year the whole nation pays rich
tributes to the language martyrs who gave their "today for our better
tomorrow." The courageous youths said no to the arbitrary decision of
Mr. M A Jinnah who declared that only Urdu would be the State language
of Pakistan of which today’s Bangladesh was a part.
To her son or daughter ma is the dearest word as she carries the baby
in her womb, and then after birth is given all the care and affection
under the sun. No one else on Earth has as much cordial, selfless love
and affection as one’s mother has for her offspring. Like
one’s mother, one’s own mother tongue too is close to
one’s heart. This bond of love has no parallel. It is
interesting to note that mater in German, mother in English, madar in
Persian and mator in Sanskrit have a striking similarity because they
belong to the same family of Indo-European languages.
In the poem entitled, the Message of the Rebel poet Nazrul says: "I
beseech you! now is the time for you to speak the truth, the truth!/
You have done enough hushing-up/Played enough false tricks./ Now speak
the truth." The people of what is now Bangladesh upheld truth, became
conscious of their cultural identity and waged a crusade against the
conspiracy against their mother tongue in 1952.
The love and reverence of the people for the martyrs are epitomised in
the Shaheed Minar, the monument commemorating our brethren who made
that supreme sacrifice.
Perhaps no other words fill the minds of the Bangladeshis with as much
pride and honour as do these two words: Shaheed Minar. The five
concrete-built minarets on the raised plinth – spread over a
wide plaza in front of the teachers’ quarters and the science
annex of the Dhaka University with the Dhaka Medical College Hospital
complex behind – epitomise our unique love of the mother tongue
as also our right of self-determination.
There stand five columns of which the one in the middle, representing
a Mother, is taller than the others. The four columns stand for four
children and the one in the middle stands for their Mother Eternal who
bows her head in maternal affection and reverence to the splendid
achievement of her offspring. The semicircular pulpit has an organic
unity and a balanced harmony in it. As the eternal source of endless
love the mother, symbolic of the motherland, looks at her millions of
offspring, that is, the people of Bangladesh. Black steel rods
constitute an important element of the structure and seem to connote
human ribs.
The actual number of martyrs could not be ascertained. Police opened
fire into the crowds at the then Medical College Hostel compound and
the adjoining areas on Thursday afternoon, 21 February. Firing took
place again near the old High Court building in the, morning and at
Nawabpur Road, Bangshal, Rathkhola and Johnson Road at noon on the
following day. In the Thursday firing Muhammad Salahuddin, 26, died on
the spot. Among the wounded, Abdul Jabbar, 30, Abul Barkat, 25, and
Rafiquddin Ahmed, 27, succumbed to their injuries at the hospital
after 8 o’clock in the evening. Shafiur Rahman, an employee of
the High Court, Awal, a rickshaw-puller; a teenager and some others
were gunned down on the following day. Barkat and Shafiur Rahman were
buried at the Azimpur graveyard. The bodies of the other martyrs were
taken away by the police.
A memorial monument was necessary to commemorate the martyrs and hence
mostly the medical and varsity students acted without delay. A
participant in the Language Movement, Dr Ahmed Rafique describes it as
the "cumulative result of combined efforts’’ which had
surprising success following the collective labour. Dr Sayeed Haider
recounts: "It was a spontaneously planned idea and students
irrespective of their political affiliation participated in it.
Although curfew had already been imposed on the city, from the
afternoon of 23 Feb. till the late hours of the night bricks, sand and
cement were carried from nearby to the site of today’s Shaheed
Minar. Some 300 medical students, residents of the nearby barrack
hostels, were the volunteer construction workers, and two professional
masons were also called in. I drew its design on a sheet of paper.
Those who worked hard to complete the task were among others,
Sharfuddin, Mowla, Hashem, Zia, Alim and Jahed. Originally I planned
it to be nine and a half feet in height but on completion the memorial
stood 11 feet from the ground. Badrul Alam in his beautiful
handwriting inscribed: "May the Memory of the Martyrs Remain Immortal
(Shaheed Smriti Amar Houk)."
On 24 February 1952, the memorial was inaugurated by the bereaved
father of Shafiur Rahman. Later on, it was inaugurated for the second
time by Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, Editor of the daily Azad. During the
period from 24 February to 26 February, the first Shaheed Minar in
remembrance of the Language Martyrs became a sacred place around which
unending streams of Bengalees gathered and continued to pay their
respects. Innumerable wreaths as tokens of heartfelt love and emotion
covered the Shaheed Minar again and again. But the monument was
levelled by the police in the 26 February afternoon. The government
failed to realise the strengths and significance of this symbol of
pride and patriotism which had its image permanently imprinted on the
minds of the people. Many miniature Shaheed Minars were built on the
campuses of educational institutions in Dhaka and elsewhere.
The site of the present Shaheed Minar was selected during the tenure
of office in 1956 of Mr. Abu Hossain Sarker, the Chief Minister.
The mother of language-martyr Abul Barkat, the Awami League President
Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and the then chief minister jointly
laid the foundation of the Shaheed Minar on Thursday, 21 February
1956. Syed Abul Maqsud in his mammoth book entitled Maulana Bhashani,
published by the Bangla Academy, writes: "The ceremony began with
recitation from the holy Quran. Maulana Bhashani in his speech
described the mother of Barkat as the "mother of four crore people of
this country." The then chief engineer A. Jabbar was charged with the
project for constructing it. The late painter Hamidur Rahman had just
returned from Europe after receiving advanced training in fine art.
About sixteen years ago he reminisced to me thus:
"After specialising in mural painting for five years in Paris, Rome
and London I came back home in 1957. I was approached by the
provincial government to design a monument in remembrance of the
Language martyrs. A committee was formed with Shilpacharya Zainul
Abedin, Prof. Munier Chowdhury, poet Sufia Kamal, architect Mazharul
Islam, Greek painter Signor Doxie Idies and the chief engineer. I did
design one but the authorities abandoned the project and so I left
Dhaka. When I came back from abroad again in 1959, friends like Hasan
Hafizur Rahman and the former committee members approached me.
Sculptor Novera Ahmed and I used a bamboo thatch in front of the
outpatient department of the Medical College. It was a makeshift
apology for a studio. At night I used to lie down on an empty cabin
bed of the hospital, as I had to work all day long.
"A 1500 square feet long mural depicting the Language Movement and
life in Bangladesh as well as the model was completed. Meanwhile some
people in the establishment dictated that such and such things should
be there which I could not concede to and abandoned the project."
Hamidur Rahman had designed the plaza in a manner so that the seven
colours of sunlight could reflect on it through pieces of stained
glass cut in the shape of human eyes fixed on the minarets. A railing
with the Bangla alphabet and repeat words Ami ki bhulite paari (Can I
ever forget) were also proposed.
However, in 1962, Lt. Gen. Azam Khan, Governor of the then East
Pakistan, formed a 14-member committee with Dr Mahmud Hasan, the then
Vice-Chancellor of the Dhaka University, as its Chairman, to complete
the monument. This design did not conform to the one done by Hamidur
Rahman. When the Liberation War began the Pakistani troops fired
shells at the Shaheed Minar as part of their Operation Searchlight,
and demolished it.
We had the third Shaheed Minar rebuilt in post haste in 1973. Although
the government finally approved the plan submitted by Hamidur Rahman
and architect M.S. Jafar "the matter remained shelved for mysterious
reasons," writes Dr Rafiqul Islam. The monument had its face-lift and
expansion of the square in the early eighties.
The Shaheed Minar will forever continue to symbolise the patriotic
spirit of the Bangladesh people.
The polyglot’s foresight
Philologist, polyglot and scholar, Dr Mohammad Shahidullah was the
first among the Bengalee intellectuals to articulate the rightful
claim of Bangla to be the state language of the then Pakistan. In the
daily Azad on 12 Sravana, 1354, corresponding to 1948, Dr Mohammed
Shahidullah in his essay entitled "Pakistaner Rastrabhasha Samasya"
wrote:
"In imitation of Congress’s plan to make Hindi the State
language of India, it will be sheer retrogression if Urdu is made the
state language of Pakistan... the argument against English is that it
is not the mother tongue of any province of the dominion of Pakistan.
The same rationale applies to Urdu. The languages spoken in different
provinces of Pakistan are Pashtu, Baluchi, Punjabi, Sindhi and Bangla;
but nowhere is Urdu a mother tongue of the people."
"If English is abandoned for being a foreign language, then there is
no reason why Bangla should not be adopted as the state language of
Pakistan. The claim of Urdu can be considered only when an additional
second language is felt necessary. If Urdu or Hindi is accepted as the
language of the courts and universities of Bangladesh then it will be
a case of political domination of sorts."
In another essay published in the Takbir on 17 Poush 1354 Bangla year,
Dr Shahidullah observed, "Irrespective of Hindu or Muslim, the primary
language for every Bangalee shall be Bangla. This is as correct as a
geometrical axiom. None except an insane will refute it. Thus Bangla
shall be the state language of East Pakistan."
An educationist with foresight, the scholar felt the need for English
as one of the languages: "We want to see Pakistan as a modern
prosperous state. For this any one of the following languages –
English, French, German, Italian and Russian – should be adopted
for higher studies. For this we will choose English because, first,
our educated people are familiar with it, secondly, English is the
most widely known among the international languages. I suggest that
English be one of the state languages of Pakistan."
Why we should be proud of Bangla There are more reasons than one why
we can take pride in our Bangla literature the gifts of which are
copious and diverse. In lyrical and devotional poetry Tagore reigns
supreme with the vastness of his output; and Nazrul remains the most
favourite for his fiery and revolutionary anti-British and
anti-imperialist poems and songs of patriotic inspiration. None wrote
more extensively on the social malaise and injustices than the old
favourite Saratchandra whose many-layered mind produced some unique
creations. And who can forget the romantic recluse, the quiet loner
Jibanananda?
We discover clinical analysis of the multifaceted human mind in the
fiction of Manik Bandyopadhyaya. To sum up, Bangla literature is full
of vitality and versatility, critical and cultured, intensely personal
and self-regulated, apparently defiant of all laws, as Sushil De puts
it.
As we are aware Bengali is a member of the Indo-European family of
languages and represents, along with Assamese, the easternmost branch
of that family. We can be rightly proud of Bangla. When Elias Khan
became Sultan or ruler, peace returned to Bengal in the middle of the
fourteenth century.
From the fifteenth century onwards conditions became favourable for
literature to flourish. The three hundred years that had elapsed since
the Muslim conquest produced a change in the attitude of the Muslim
rulers, observes J C Ghose adding that they no longer regarded
themselves as alien invaders, but as permanent dwellers in the land,
and some of them took an interest in the literature and culture of the
people they ruled.
"Several instances are known of the patronage of Bengali poets by the
Muslim royalty and nobility of the late fifteenth and the early
sixteenth centuries. The patronage was the outcome of genuine interest
and not merely a matter of state policy", says Ghose.
In the fifteenth century Maladhar Vasu was patronised by Sultan
Ruknuddin Barabak Shah; and Vijay Gupta, Vipradas Piplai, and Yasoraj
Khan by Sultan Hussein Shah. In the sixteenth century Sultan Nasrat
Shah patronised Kaviranjan, and Alauddin Firuz Shah patronised Sridhar
(for writing his Vidya Sundar), Paragal Khan, the governor of
Chittagong, patronised Kavindra (to write his Mahabharata): Chhoti
Khan patronised Srikaran Nandi (for translating the Aswamedha canto of
the Mahabharata). According to Ghose, all these poets except Yasoraj
Khan were Hindus and all of them wrote on Hindu themes.
Ethnology and the origin of Bangla
In respect of their physical and linguistic traits Bangalees or the
Bengali people seem to be a mixture of the four races known to
ethnologists as Kol, Dravidian, Mongolian and Aryan. In Bengal their
language, a member of the Austro-Asiatic family, has been almost
totally absorbed in the language of the Dravidians and the later races
who have conquered and superseded them.
Looking back to the genesis of Bangla, in India the ancient Aryan
language gave rise to several Prakrits or spoken dialects and to the
literary language Sanskrit. The Bhasas, or modern Aryan languages such
as Bangla or Bengali, originated from the Prakrits, though they have
always been influenced by Sanskrit. The Prakrits, so to speak, are
their mothers. The non-Aryan elements in Bengali are due to both
direct and indirect non-Aryan influences; the latter through Sanskrit
and the Prakrit from which Bengali is descended.
"The prachya or eastern branch of the Aryan language in India gave
rise to Magadhi Prakrit, the parent of the modern languages –
Bangla, Bihari, Oriya, and Assamese. Magadhi Prakrit is known to have
developed about the third or the fourth century AD, but the date when
Bengali developed from it cannot be definitely ascertained, writes J C
Ghose adding that lack of material has made it impossible to construct
a proper history of the birth and early growth of the Bengali
language.
Only two of the extant Bengali manuscripts are believed to be older
than the sixteenth century, the rest belong to the sixteenth, and more
commonly to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Aryan language which the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang found
spoken in Bengal in the seventh century was probably the
Apabhramsa’ of Magadhi Prakrit representing the transitional
stage before the final emergence of Bengali.
The final emergence probably took place in the tenth century, under
the stimulus which all aspects of culture received during the reign of
the Pal kings. There was some influence of Sauraseni Apabhramsa on Old
Bengali. Sauraseni is a western Indian language, and it spread in
eastern India under the influence of the Rajput kings of central India
who from the ninth to the twelfth century were the paramount power in
Aryavartta.
It was the language of the royal courts, and was widely cultivated by
the professional bards of these Rajput kings and, on their model, by
the professional bards of the other kings of Aryavartta. That is why a
great deal of the early literature of Bengal is in a mixed
Sauraseni-Bengali dialect, says Ghose. Every Bangalee is familiar with
the song "Amar Bhaier Rakte Rangano Ekushey February’’
written by Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury. Mahbubul Alam wrote another
memorable piece ‘’Kandtay Ashini Bicharer Dabi Niye
Eshechhi’’.
We must not forget that the movement for Bangla language was as it
were the prelude to our Liberation War. It is a happy augury that the
United Nations has designated 21 February as the International Mother
Language Day since the year 2001.
(Independent, Feb. 15, 2002)
Ekushey: Reminiscenses and reflections
Ahmad Rafique, Bhasha Sainik, poet:
The Language Movement began as a struggle of gathering indignation
from the end of 1947 with public wrath further fuelled in March 1948
by a decision declaring Urdu as the state language of Pakistan in the
assembly. It finally turned into a full-fledged movement, when
Pakistan Prime Minister Khwaja Nazimuddin on 27 January 1952, at a
public meeting at the Paltan Maidan in Dhaka declared, "Urdu is going
to be the state language of Pakistan."
There was a strong reaction among the students in the university
halls, college hostels and even the school hostels. From 28 January,
1952, rallies and processions were taking place regularly on the Arts
Faculty premises. On 4 February, at a huge gathering of the students,
it was decided to observe hartal on 21 February along with other
programmes. Before this, on 31 January, in the Dhaka Bar Library
auditorium, All Parties State Language Action Committee was formed in
a meeting presided over by Moulana Bhashani.
The government decided to enforce Section 144 in order to disrupt the
programme of 21 February. The students decided to break Section 144.
And with this aim, I met my friends in Dhaka Hall and Fazlul Huq Hall.
At that time I was a third year student of Dhaka Medical College.
Advocate Gaziul Huq, Bhasha Sainik:
In 1952, Gaziul Huq was a masters final year student of History
Department in Dhaka University. He was directly involved in the
Language Movement from beginning to end. Recalling the events he said,
"On 20 February Section 144 was imposed in Dhaka. An atmosphere of
suspense and tension prevailed in the city. Patients in the Medical
College Hospital were encouraged to leave the Hospital, if possible.
The Medical College Hospital was located next to the university.
Obviously the university was the focal point of this tension. The
action committee met after dusk to review the changed circumstances.
The representatives of political parties in the committee were
inclined to postpone the programme. Their decision was swayed by the
considerations of the prospect of the ensuing elections. They were
apprehensive lest the violation of Section 144 engender widespread
trouble and violence, thus enabling the Muslim League government to
make an excuse of postponing the elections.
The representatives of the Youth League, Mr. Toaha and Mr. Oli Ahad,
were adamant on the previous decision and called for a division vote.
They lost by four votes to eleven. What was even more exasperating for
the Toaha-Oli Ahad group was a supplementary decision of the action
committee to the effect that the four persons who were in favour of
violating Section 144 would not be allowed to address the public
meeting the next day.
If in spite of all this, general students should decide to violate
Section 144 the action committee would stand dissolved automatically.
Thus the committee not only opposed the prevailing sentiment in favour
of violating the restrictions on public assembly but also covertly
warned the students against going too far. It was a very strange
decision and certainly a counter-revolutionary and anti-people one.
The abject surrender of the political parties to such measures of
repression was motivated by a not too noble instinct of self-
preservation at the expense of people’s interests. By thus
betraying their weakness and division within the action committee they
had indirectly encouraged the government to let violence loose on the
people in an unprecedented manner.
The possibility of a violent showdown frightened the professional
politicians but made the students all the more excited. The students
took it up as a challenge. In the halls of residence of Dacca
University it was decided to violate the restrictions the next day.
There used to be several bathing ghats on the eastern side of the tank
adjoining Dhaka Hall. There was a meeting of eleven student leaders on
one of these ghats in the small hours of the night following the day
of 20 February. The meeting was brief and historical. It was
unanimously decided that Section 144 should be defied. A very short
programme also was chalked out at this meeting.
The eagerly awaited day of the 21st February dawned a few hours later.
It was a fateful day in the history of Bangladesh. Things that
happened throughout the day made history on several counts. The demand
for Bengali as a state language had never before been voiced in a more
militant and uncompromising manner. The students for once had wrested
political leadership from the political parties and had given it a
revolutionary content. Students had faced bullets and bayonets while
pressing for their demands and thus inspired the people of Bangladesh
as a whole to do likewise in future. A revolutionary rapport was
created between the students as vanguard of action and the militant
masses, which has lasted all through during the years. Lastly and most
importantly, a definite consciousness of Bengali distinctiveness was
created in Bangladesh which later on was developed and clarified as
Bengali nationhood in ten years’ time.
The programme for the 21st February was conceived of as a non-violent
mass demonstration. Students and members of the public who assembled
at the campus meeting were intent on challenging the restrictive order
and came out of the university in small groups.
The police responded by making a brutal lathi charge on them and
entered the campus. Tear gas shells were thrown indiscriminately
everywhere, completely ignoring the fact that a few hundred yards away
there was a hospital full of patients. As a matter of fact, a few
shells exploded on the very lawns of the hospital. But the lathi
charge achieved little save injuring a number of persons. Scores of
students had already courted arrest. Students and the public
reassembled and marched to the Provincial Assembly building nearly.
The procession, this time, was resisted by bullets, the ultimate
weapon in the armoury of the ruling class of Pakistan. A few were
killed. But could they resist the movement? No. Not at all.
Dr. Syed Manzoorul Islam, writer and professor of English Department,
Dhaka University:
The immediate effect has been realised in that we have our own
national identity. The political struggle in the 1950s and 1960s was
for realising that identity and it culminated in the emergence of
Bangladesh as a free and independent country in 1971. Ekushey February
also inspired in us a struggle for democracy and after a decade-long
period of military rule the country achieved democratic governance in
1990.
In the social sector, 21st February has contributed to the making of a
dynamic and creative society. Bangladesh society today is innovative
and forward-looking. It is full of confidence in a future that we can
collectively ensure. And all these are contributions of 21st February.
Culturally we are now a confident nation. Ekushey February has enabled
us to achieve a secular and liberal culture, which is both local and
international.
Ekushey February gave us an extremely potent language, which is
creative and taken from the heart of our tradition and culture. Our
literature has achieved its own identity. It has its strength and its
own pride. It is very distinct from the literature written in West
Bengal. Our literature is distinctly our own and all these have been
the contributions of 21st February.
Dr. Muhammad Samad, poet and professor of the Institute of Social
Welfare and Research, Dhaka University:
The Language Movement in 1952 first identified the partial and
undemocratic approach of the then autocratic government. The movement
turned the struggle for language into the struggle for liberation in
1971. And finally we have achieved a free and independent state.
Ekushey February gave us social dignity. The occupying force did not
realise our social dignity as a nation. Culturally we emerged on the
world map after the struggle of 1952. Ekushey February enriched our
literature, especially the literature of protest.
Did Golam Azam participate in the Language Movement?
In this regard, Ahmad Rafique said, "The claim of Golam Azam’s
participation in the Language Movement is baseless. Golam Azam was not
in Dhaka between 1948 and 1952. 1 did not see him any take any active
part related to the movement.
In 1948, when the then Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
visited the Dhaka University campus he read out a memorandum in place
of the then DUCSU VP Arindam Bose. Golam Azam had the chance as a
Muslim student to put forward the claim of our mother tongue. In this
regard he had no contribution. He has not been identified by anyone as
an participant in the Language Movement from 1948 to 1952."
Mr. Pierre Carpentier, a French national and teacher of the French
language, Independent University Bangladesh:
I think it’s a matter of importance that UNESCO has declared
21st February as the International Mother Language Day. It is a unique
decision. People all over the world needs to preserve their own mother
tongue from the globalisation effect of any other language. Even
French people try to preserve their own language from the
globalisation of English. I think 21st February is also a symbol for
others in the world.
Subonto Rokho, Secretary, Alliance Francaise de Dhaka:
Our achievements in the Language Movement are very important. But we
have failed to properly utilise our achievements. Government should
pay attention to the mother languages of the minority people,
including different tribal communities. Here it is to be noted that
when I work in my office or any other work place in the country, we,
the tribals as Bengalee nationals, use Bengali. But among our family
and in our localities, we use our own mother tongue. So there is a
feeling of inner conflict among us. The authorities concerned should
take steps to protect every mother tongue in the world. It is the
unique feature of 21st February. (Independent, Feb. 15, 2002)
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