Language is a defining characteristic of a people, as much so as their religion or culture. We have even go so far as to say people from France are French and speak French, Germany are Germans and speak German. This of course doesn't hold true for every country, but it does prove the emphasis that we have placed on language as a huge part of a peoples' heritage.
In 1947 and 1948 Britain's colonial holdings on the Indian Subcontinent were granted independence, becoming four new independent states: India, Burma, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, modern day Bangladesh).
After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, Bangla speaking people made up 44 million of the 69 million population. Pakistan's government, civil services, and military, however, were dominated by West Pakistanis. In 1947, a key resolution at a national education summit in Karachi advocated Urdu as the sole state language, and its exclusive use in the media and in schools. Bangla was removed from official use, including coins, stamps and recruitment tests for the navy. There were many protests and political maneuverings from 1947 until the morning of 21 February 1952.
Massive demonstrations had been planned to protest the central government's proposal of writing the Bangla language in Arabic Script. As the preparation for demonstrations began, government imposed Section 144 on the city of Dhaka, thereby banning any gatherings of more than four people.
At nine o'clock in the morning on 21 February 1952, students began gathering on the University of Dhaka premises in defiance of Section 144. The university vice-chancellor and other officials were present as armed police surrounded the campus. By a quarter past eleven, students gathered at the university gate and attempted to break the police line. Police fired tear shells towards the gate to warn the students. A section of students ran into the Dhaka Medical College while others rallied towards the university premises cordoned by the police. The vice-chancellor asked police to stop firing and ordered the students to leave the area. However, the police arrested several students for violating section 144 as they attempted to leave. Enraged by the arrests, the students met around the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and blocked the legislators' way, asking them to present their insistence at the assembly. When a group of students sought to storm into the building, police opened fire and killed a number of students, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar.
As the news of the killings spread, disorder erupted across the city. Shops, offices and public transport were shut down and a general strike began. At the assembly, six legislators including Manoranjan Dhar, Boshontokumar Das, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Dhirendranath Datta requested that chief minister Nurul Amin visit wounded students in hospital and that the assembly be adjourned as a sign of mourning. This motion was supported by some of the treasury bench members including Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Shorfuddin Ahmed, Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar and Mosihuddin Ahmed. However Nurul Amin refused the requests.
Disorder spread across the province on 22 February as large processions ignored section 144 and condemned the actions of the police. More than 30,000 people congregated at Curzon Hall in Dhaka. During the continued protests, police actions led to the death of four more people. This prompted officers and clerks from different organizations, including colleges, banks and the radio station, to boycott offices and join the procession. Protesters burned the offices of two leading pro-government news agencies, the Jubilee Press and the Morning News. The shooting killed several people including activist Sofiur Rahman and a nine-year old boy named Ohiullah.
Bengali was recognised as the second official language of Pakistan on 29 February 1956, and article 214(1) of the constitution of Pakistan was reworded to "The state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bengali."
Although the question of official languages was settled by 1956, the military regime of Ayub Khan promoted the interests of the Punjabi and Pashtun communities at the expense of Bengalis. Despite forming the majority of the national population, the Bengali community continued to be under-represented in the civil and military services, and received a minority of state funding and other government help. Facing extensive ethnic discrimination in West Pakistan, Bengalis grew increasingly alienated. Consequently, sectional divisions grew, and support for the Bengali nationalist Awami League, which invoked the spirit of the Language Movement was invoked in its 6-point movement for greater autonomy and democracy. One demand was that East Pakistan be called Bangladesh (Land of Bengal), which subsequently led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.
After a declaration of independence on 25 March 1971 Bangledesh won their independence from West Pakistan (now just Pakistan) on 16 December 1971 after months of intense fighting.
Bangladesh officially sent a proposal to UNESCO to declare 21 February as "International Mother Language Day." The proposal was supported unanimously at the 30th General Conference of UNESCO held on 17 November 1999.
Language Martyr's Monument of Bangladesh
Would you die for your language, your people, your way of life?
For further reading refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_Language_Movement. Extensive portions of this article have been borrowed from the above website.
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