Living up to spirit of Ekushey February

The language movement of 1952 marked by the martyrdom of Abdus Salam, Rafiquddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat, Abdul Jabbar and Shafiur Rahman on the 21st of February in Dhaka in police firing is the fountainhead of this nation's struggle for self-determination. The tragic event that took place on the 21st of February 72 years ago marked a nodal point of the protracted struggle that people of this part of the world had been waging against all forms of subjugation, exploitation and injustice they were subjected to since long. It did not also start just after the creation of Pakistan, whose ruling class tried to foist Urdu as the only state language upon its entire population, though Bangla was the language of the majority.

Notably, present-day Bangladesh, then called East Pakistan, was the eastern wing of Pakistan. It would be worthwhile to note here that Urdu was also not the native language of the populations of any of the western provinces of then-Pakistan. In truth, it was a lingua franca that the ruling elite of that part of Pakistan spoke and used for administrative purpose. Even so, it was only the Bangalee people who raised the voice of protest against the Pakistani ruling elite's ill-conceived idea of making Urdu the sole state language. Though the issue of that time centred around the right of recognition of the language that the people of this part of the world spoke as an official language, in the final analysis, it was not the be-all and end-all of the bloody protests that erupted in the streets of Dhaka. In essence, it was an expression of the people's disillusionment with what they inherited as a state following the departure of the British colonial power from the Indian subcontinent, which the local ruling elites would like to call independence.

So, the emotion-packed chronicle of the events of that day (the 21st February) is not the whole story of the Shaheed Diibash (the day of martyrdom). But the Bangalee urban middle class has conveniently crafted the history of the language movement to suit their own aspirations of becoming part of the new ruling elite of the post-independence Bangladesh. Hence is the slogan of nationalism, a form of identity politics, being propagated as the sole spirit of the people's struggle against then-Pakistani ruling elite.

It is time the call of the day (21st February) is taken out of its narrow trappings of pure nationalism. In fact, the common people have little or no stake in slogans that do not promise them relief from their penury and the endless struggle for survival. Small wonder that practically no participation of the working masses is observed in the various Ekushey February programmes that are held on the day every year. That is why, it is important that the Ekushey is made into a day of the entire nation by recognising the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversities of the population that makes Bangladesh. At the same time, the primary message of the day, that is, making Bangla the official language of the state, should not be limited to paying only lip service to the cause. On the contrary, it should be observed in its true spirit. Placing floral wreaths at the base of the Shaheed Minar and holding various cultural programmes on the day should be more than a mere ritual.