From Bangla to Bangladesh

Monument of the Martyrs (শহীদ মিনার)

If language matters to the human kind, then one South-Asian country called “Bangladesh” is a living example of our time that shows the world how a country could proudly become independent through the path of language movement. Though Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan in 1971, the liberation war actually began 60 years ago when the then West Pakistan (now Pakistan) tried to impose “Urdu” as the only state language on the Bangla (Bengali) speaking community who had an overwhelming majority at that time. 

On February 21, 1952, the masses took over the streets of Dhaka led by the students of the University of Dhaka to protect Bangla, their mother language. The heroes whom we call “language martyrs” valiantly sacrificed their lives on the streets of Dhaka after the police opened fire on their peaceful procession. The supreme sacrifices to protect Bangla language energized Bangladeshis from socio-political and cultural repression of the Pakistani regime that ultimately helped liberate the country from the dominance of Pakistan, which was physically one thousand miles away (As India geographically lied between these two countries). 

The language movement in the 1950s has become the most defining course of our history that ultimately guided the birth of a nation called “Bangladesh”.  The eminent Bangladeshi poet Hasan Hafizur Rahman eloquently portrayed their sacrifices in the following lines:

The language movement as we proudly call “Omor Ekushey February” (Unforgettable February 21st) has become the symbol of Bangladeshi nationalism that has transcended the national boundary, as it has now officially become the International Mother Language Day (IMLD).  The United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266  in 2006 called upon the Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" to honor the sacrifices of language movement in Bangladesh back on February 21, 1952.  As UNESCO says, “International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism”.

In order to pay the highest tribute to the language martyrs, every year on the eve of Omor Ekushey (Unforgettable February 21st) Bangladeshis march toward the monument of Martyrs (Shaheed Minar) and put wreaths at the monument out of their deep respect and remembrance. 
  
As the Wikipedia explains the history of the monument and its cultural significance:

…It has inspired the development and celebration of the Bengali language, literature and culture. 21 February, celebrated as Language Movement Day or Shohid Dibosh (Martyrs' Day), is a major national holiday in Bangladesh. A month-long event called the Ekushey Book Fair is held every year to commemorate the movement. Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, is awarded annually in memory of the sacrifices of the movement. Songs such as Abdul Gaffar Choudhury's Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano, set to music by Shaheed Altaf Mahmud, as well as plays, works of art and poetry played a considerable role in rousing the people's emotions during the movement. Since the events of February 1952, poems, songs, novels, plays, films, cartoons and paintings were created to capture the movement from varied point of views.

The traditional ceremony as observed since 1952 can be viewed in the following video: 

“Can I forget the twenty-first of February?
Incarnadined by the love of my brother?
The twenty-first of February, built by the tears
Of a hundred mothers robbed of their sons,
Can I ever forget it? …”

The poem was written by Abdul Gaffar Choudhury to mark the Bengali Language Movement in the 1950s in Bangladesh. The poem became the theme song for Ekushey event which is translated as My Brothers Blood Spattered or My Brothers Blood Spattered 21 February by Kabir Chowdhury.  Bangla is our national language that we proudly protected from being replaced with Urdu in 1952.  It is the perfect preface of the history of our liberation war. Truly, only Bangladesh can show the world how a language movement 60 years ago turned Bangla into Bangladesh.  As we speak Bangla, the world now knows it is the sixth most spoken language in the world.