Bengal takes a bow to pay homage Ekushey martyrs

Bengal Newz team Salluate Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Shafiur, Jabbar and a few other brave Bengal's sons of the soil sacrificed their lives on this day to establish Bangla as one of the state languages.

Dhaka, Kolkata, 21 February : Thousands of people thronged the Dhaka Shaheed Minars, Kolkata Bangla Academy, Behala, Thakurpukur, Siliguri, Durgapur, Agartala, Silchar....all across the Bengal area to pay respect to the Language Movement martyrs. Who laid down their lives back on 21 February, 1952 for recognition of Bengali as one of the state languages of the undivided Pakistan.
The Central Shaheed Minar of Dhaka, Kolkata Carzon Park, Rabindra Sadan, Bangla Academy and its adjacent areas have had a facelift on the occasion, and roads and medians have been festooned with Bangla alphabets and the Shaheed Minar's Memento.
In Bangladesh the day is a public holiday. The national flag will be hoisted at half-mast atop all government, autonomous and private buildings. Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar one minute past zero hours. Stringent security measures were taken in and around the Dhaka Central Shaheed Minar following yesterday's militant attack in Gazipur and threats of attacks on Ekushey programmes by outlawed militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
UNESCO proclaimed Feb. 21 the International Mother Language Day on 17 November, 1999 to honour the sacrifices of language martyrs Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar, Shafiur and the ones whose names could not be known on that historic day in 1952.
Since the UNESCO proclamation, 188 countries across the globe observe the day to promote linguistic diversity, multilingual education, and to raise awareness about cultural traditions based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.