International Mother Language Day
is also known as a red-letter day or "Shaheed Day". It is an important day in the
history of Bengali-speaking people. The day is now observed as the
International Mother Language Day as UNESCO declared it so on 17 November 1999.
The day has its own background. The heroic sons of our land sacrificed their
lives to protect the interest of our mother tongue. Barket, Salam, Rafiq,
Jabbar, Shfique were some of those who sacrificed their lives for this great
cause. Since then we had been observing the day as "Shaheed Day". The
declaration of UNESCO has turned a national celebration into an international
event. The message is that we all should respect the mother languages of
others. On this day, people get up very early in the morning. At dawn, wearing
black badges on their souldiers people go to “Shaheed Minner” barefooted with
flowers and wreaths in their hands to show respect to the martyrs. They sing the
mournful song: “Amar VaiyerRokteRangano…….” We observe the day to mark the
importance of the day; we observe the day with honor and dignity. On this
occasion, many social, political, and cultural organizations arrange different
cultural functions. Newspapers bring out special supplements while radio and
Sattelite television channels air special programs. The day is a real source of
our inspiration. The events on 21st February 1952 gave rise to a
strong national spirit in us. This was the first time when we learned to fight
against injustice. That spirit inspired us a lot in the war of liberation in
1971.
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