From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Language Martyrs' Day is a day remembered in Bangladesh for the killings of protesters seeking official recognition for the Bengali language in 1952.
When Bengal was divided in East and West during the partition of India in 1947, West Bengal emerged as a state of India and East Bengal (now an independent country, Bangladesh) became a part of Pakistan and was known as East Pakistan. As a state of Pakistan, Urdu was the language of government in East Bengal, but the population there primarily spoke Bengali. In reaction to this, people from East Bengal started asking the government to make Bengali an official language of administration. But the Pakistani government of the time did not agree. Finally, on February 21, 1952, there was a huge protest of all ages of people, irrespective of caste and creed, with students of Dhaka University in the lead. Police ruthlessly fired to disperse the crowd, and many of the protesters were killed. It was not long, however, before Bengali was given right of a official language. Since then, February 21 has been remembered as Language Martyrs' Day in Bangladesh. In fact not only in Bangladesh, it is respected as Language Martyrs' Day in West Bengal, too. The same date is observed by UNESCO as International Mother Language Day.
