Igniting the national ethos through Ekushey

The movement for making Bangla the state language was a unique and indelible chapter in the annals of Bangladesh's struggle for attaining nationhood. Being the majority in numbers, the people of this land felt quite naturally that their state language should be Bangla. Therefore, a people's movement was initiated that progressed through evolutionary episodes by gaining strength from a students' movement launched across the country for realising this patriotic demand.

The mass movement ultimately became a struggle for the political, social, cultural and economic emancipation of the Bangalis after the incidents of 21 February 1952. The historical force unleashed by this movement ignited the fire that ultimately led to the liberation war of Bangladesh. The people spontaneously participated in that struggle launched soon after the partition of India and the establishment of Pakistan. In the process, the Bangalis raised their awareness of language to newer heights in the light of their historical roots. The fiery particles of language awareness finally became the burning flames of national ethos. This flow deep inside the nationalistic spirit of Bangalis ultimately resulted in their national cum state identity. They snatched their freedom and became the proprietors of a sovereign land. Therefore, the Ekushey or Twenty-first February was the spring-board or launching pad for realisation of the Bangalis' national identity.

Many years later, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) took a historic decision at its General Conference session held on 17 November 1999. It declared 21 February - soaked with the blood of Bangali martyrs in 1952 - as the 'International Mother Language Day'. UNESCO mentioned in the resolution adopted at its General Conference: "Recognizing the unprecedented sacrifice made by Bangladesh for the cause of mother language on 21 February 1952, proposes that 21 February be proclaimed 'International Mother Language Day' throughout the world to commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed their lives on this very date in 1952". The resolution was adopted by all the member-states present at that session of UNESCO General Conference. The recognition by UNESCO was in fact an expression of support for the brave Bangali people who could sacrifice their lives selflessly for protecting their language and upholding their love for it even while standing in a pool of blood. This historic recognition was a natural expression of support from the entire mankind.

21 February 1952 was in fact one of the most glorious chapters in the history of the Bangali nation. The day subsequently emerged as the umbilical cord for the political, social, cultural, economic, and historical destiny of the entire nation. Just as the flame of fire spreads out in all directions from a volcano, similarly, the awareness that emerged from the nation's depths made the national psyche burn like electrical sparks on 21 February 1952. Since then, this day has been the guiding light in Bangla's quest for national advancement. It has also been holding high the heritage of Bangla's blood-drenched struggles. UNESCO merely reminded the world about its brave inhabitants and their unique language cum culture. The declaration on International Mother Language Day has spread throughout the latitudes and longitudes of the globe, crossed the geographical boundaries, reached the doorsteps of humanity, and merged in the universal confluence of global languages. Today, the Bangla language has a global and omnipresent character cum dimension.

In fact, the struggle for the flourishing of Bangla language dates back to centuries. it has been a long and sustained quest for people's freedom, human survival and national identity. The flow of this struggle has been indestructible and could never be obliterated. Neither could it perish from mankind's collective memory. The appeal of this struggle for preserving the mother-language has been eternal-unending-constant. The Bangali nation has battled through a thousand year for the materialisation of her ethos, self-identity, freedom, power, recognition and honour. The flow of this strife never stopped at any juncture of time. The flame of this struggle was lit even at the royal court of Arakan during the medieval era. The great forefathers of the epic poet Syed Alaol had ignited the torch of this great battle for self-identity and ethos of the nation.

Climbing on the evolutionary ladder of that struggle, supreme sacrifices were made by innumerable heroic souls and torchbearers of this great endeavour, including the language martyrs of Ekushey, for advancing it through the ages. This advancement has in fact been an extension of the revolutionary episodes of human progress. Ultimately, the Bangalis got their irresistible inspiration for the independence war from this historic movement for state recognition of mother-language. The acknowledgment by UNESCO was not merely the recognition of Bangla language. It was also an acknowledgment of the glorious struggle for realizing the national identity of an independent and sovereign nation. Bangladesh has been honoured with international recognition because of its language. By erecting an appropriate edifice for the all-out flourishing and creative growth of Bangla language, the country can now enrich the global community with the luminosity of new experiences.

Over seven decades have now elapsed; but the Bangalis still have the conviction that the spark of emotion and fire of 21st February still burn in the nucleus of their existence. They fought for the recognition of their language in their own land, and emerged victorious in that battle through limitless sacrifices. And it all culminated in a global recognition for the first epoch-making struggle to protect a mother-language by a nation.

Today, the Bangla language does not belong to the Bangalis alone. In a way, it has now become the language of mankind. The variegated colours of distinct culture and traditions of Bangladesh have now been added to the global cultural canvas. Bangladesh can illuminate the global arena with the splendour of sacrifices made by the language martyrs like Abul Barkat, Rafiquddin, Salam, Jabbar, Sadiqur Rahman et al through upholding the spirit of language movement and flourishing the nation's political, social, cultural and national identities in a concerted and sustained manner.

Events Leading to UNESCO Recognition: The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) was established by the United Nations (UN) in 1946. The UN Charter stipulated clear goals and objectives for educational and cultural development of peoples across the globe. The UN has 6 councils, viz. the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, the Council of Trustees, and the Secretariat. But the responsibility of flourishing the educational and cultural arena mainly vests on the Economic and Social Council. This council functions through some specialised agencies like UNESCO, who operate under overall supervision of the UN General Assembly.

UNESCO has three organizational bodies: (1) General Conference; (2) Executive Board; (3) Secretariat. The main objective of UNESCO is to play a realistic role in the fields of education, science and culture for the development of member states, eradication of illiteracy, making arrangements for compulsory primary education, preserving the cultural heritage of various countries of the world, encouraging and enhancing cultural awareness and values. Besides, the organization also plays a leading role in the nurturing of languages spoken by various nationalities and ethnic groups. It is estimated that there are around 4,000 functional languages in the world at the present juncture.

UNESCO accorded recognition to Twenty-first February as the 'International Mother Language Day' through a consensus reached among 188 member-states at a session held in Paris on 17 November 1999. Among those who worked behind the scene in this noble effort were two Bangladeshi expatriates of Canada named Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam Prodhan. Rafiqul Islam played the pioneering role in this endeavour by first sending a letter to the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on 9 January 1998. He mentioned in his letter: "International Mother Language Day should be observed each year for showing respect to all mother languages of the world. As it was the Bangalis who had defended the honour of their language by sacrificing their lives, the 21st of February should be observed as 'International Mother Language Day'."

After extensive networking in support of this demand, Rafiq and Salam set up an organization styled 'The Mother Language Lovers of the World' with the participation of Bangalis as well as people belonging to other nationalities and languages. People who got involved in this organisation included: Jason Morin (English), Kelvin Chao (Cantonese), Susan Hodgins (English), Nazneen Islam (Urdu), Karuna Joshi (Hindi), Renate Nortens (German), Albert Vinzen (Filipino), Carmen Cristobal (Filipino), Rafiqul Islam (Bangla) and Abdus Salam (Bangla). Then on 29 March 1998, Rafiq sent another proposal to the UN Secretary General incorporating the same proposal. Hasan Ferdous of UN Public Information Department then contacted UNESCO about the matter.

On 19 February 1999, Rafiqul Islam sent his letter to the language department of UNESCO. It was suggested in the reply sent by the organization that one of the member-states should submit the proposal as its own. Later, instructions were sent to Bangladesh Government for placing the proposal on behalf of the country.

On 9 September 1999, the Secretary of Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO Kafiluddin Ahmed submitted the proposal to the UN body. On 28 October 1999, the proposal to declare 21st February as 'International Mother Language Day' was raised on behalf of Bangladesh at a UNESCO session. It was supported in writing by 28 member-states. The countries were: Benin, Bahamas, Belarus, Comoro, Chile, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Gambia, Honduras, Italy, Iran, Indonesia, India, Ivory Coast, Lithuania, Malaysia, Micronesia, Oman, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Russia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Surinam, Slovakia and Vanuatu. The proposed resolution read as follows:

"15. It is in this spirit I draw the attention of this conference to a special resolution submitted by my delegation for your approval. This is about declaring 21 February as International Mother Language Day to honour about 1,000 mother languages in the world. We believe that language is the most powerful instrument for preserving and developing tangible and intangible heritage of every society. The significance of the day i.e. 21 February is that, on this day in 1952, the entire 45 million people of Bangladesh had risen in unison to protest against the decision of the then rulers of Pakistan that although Bangla was the language of the majority people of the country, it would not be given an official recognition and would be downgraded against another language used by a small minority. On that very day, four persons were killed by the security forces shooting at a peaceful, unarmed student demonstration.

"16. Since that eventful day in 1952, many more lives would be lost until 1971 when Bangladesh got its freedom after bloody war, leaving nearly three million dead. Bangla as a language has evolved through a thousand-year and one of its great poets Rabindranath Tagore received Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 writing in this very language. Today, nearly 200 million people in the world speak this language."

Then on 12 November 1999, Bangladesh Ambassador to France and Permanent Representative to UNESCO Syed Muazzem Ali again raised the proposal for observing 21 February as 'International Mother Language Day' at the Commission-2 session of the 30th General Conference of UNESCO. In a written statement, he said: "If we did not accord due recognition to the importance of mother languages, then the right of the people to express their opinion could not be implemented and the potentials of human resource development would also be lost. Various nations and communities of the world have waged struggles to protect their languages, but the sacrifice of lives by the courageous boys of Bangladesh and their success in this field deserve a separate honour. On 21 February 1952, the martyrs of the language movement in the then East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) had spilled their blood on the roads of Dhaka after the bullets of the security forces had hit them. 'International Mother Language Day' should therefore be logically observed throughout the world to commemorate the sacrifices they made on 21 February 1952 by giving up their lives in order to protect their mother language and establish it as a state language."

This proposal of Bangladesh was accepted by the session, and the resolution was finally adopted by it. Then, when it was placed at the plenary session of the General Conference on 17 November 1999, it received final approval on the basis of consensus among 188 member-states of UNESCO. A new chapter was thereby added to the annals of global heritage and history.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary and former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly. [email protected]