On the 21st February 1952 many university students, from Dhaka, Bangladesh, were killed whilst trying to protect their right to speak the language of Bengali. This happened when Pakistan had control over Bangladesh.
The Pakistani soldiers had forced our people to read, write and speak in Urdu. This wasn’t tolerated by the students, who so desperately wanted to speak their language.
In 1999, UNESCO declared the 21st of February as ‘International Mother Language Day’. This date was chosen to remember the language movement by the Bangladeshis.
Happy International Mother Language Day!
