Homage paid to Language Martyrs

FE Team | Published: February 23, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

BRISBANE, Australia: South African batsmen Jacques Kallis (R) and Hashim Amla (L) leave the field at the tea break during the first cricket Test between South Africa and Australia at the Gabba ground here Friday. — AFP Photo

Millions of Bangladeshis have placed wreaths at hundreds of Shaheed Minars across the country to pay rich tributes to the language movement martyrs of 1952, reports bdnews24.com.
Discussions and seminars were also organised across the country in observance of International Mother Language Day Monday, popularly known as Martyrs' Day (Shaheed Dibas).
The programmes started with the clock striking one minute past-midnight.
In the capital, president Zillur Rahman paid tributes to the language martyrs by placing a wreath at the Central Shaheed Minar at 12:05am amid tight security.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina followed the president one minute later.
Opposition leader and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, accompanied by party leaders and parliament members, also placed wreaths at the Shaheed Minar shortly after 12:15am.
Dhaka mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka then placed flowers at the foot of the Shaheed Minar at 12:19am.
Khoka was followed by the chiefs of three defence services, attorney general Mahbubey Alam, members of the diplomatic corps, foreign minister Dipu Moni and foreign secretary Mijarul Quayes on behalf of the foreign ministry, Bangladesh Police, Supreme Court Bar Association, Public Service Commission, Sector Commanders' Forum, Dhaka University Teachers Association, Dhaka University vice-chancellor A A M S Arefin Siddique, Dhaka University Alumni Association and Jagannath University.
Next to follow were thousands of barefooted people, who walked down to the Central Shaheed Minar singing in chorus 'Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano Ekushey February, Ami Ki Bhulite Pari'.
Different political, social and cultural organisations and professional bodies also placed wreaths at the Shaheed Minar.
A large number of foreigners also paid tribute to the language movement martyrs at the Shaheed Minar this year.
"Presence of crowd at the Shaheed Minar started thinning in the afternoon, but this year people placed wreathes till 6pm," member secretary of the organising committee and DU proctor K M Saiful Islam told bdnews24.com.
"A record number of people came to the Shaheed Minar this year," he said.
Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University organisesd daylong cultural programme to mark the occasion. The programmes included recitation of songs and poems, staging of dramas and screening of films on Liberation War.