During the afternoon of Thursday 21st February 1952, the
“Bhasha
Andolon” (a Language Movement which had been born back in October
1947), formed a “Chattro
Shomabesh” (Student Gathering) in Aamtola, Bangladesh, this broke the
controversial Government Code 144 (no more than five persons being allowed
to gather together), and led to mass Student protests, during which four martyrs tragically died, and
another four were mortally wounded at the hands of police.
These
Innocents were protesting against Urdu being made the sole national language
of Pakistan.
The
protests, initially calling for Bangla
to be one of the national languages, gave rise to a nascent Bengali
nationalism which eventually reached fruition of independent Bangladesh,
after a nine month long Independence
War in 1971.
In
November 1999, at its headquarters in Paris,
UNESCO proclaimed that February 21st as “International Mother
Language Day” to be observed globally by
Bangladeshis, in recognition of the sacrifices of the martyrs for
establishing the rightful place of Bangla in Bangladesh.
So
each year throughout the world, Bangladeshi People gather to commemorate the
martyrs who sacrificed their lives on this very day in 1952.
In
Bristol, in order to pay our respects to the students who were killed, “Omor
Ekushe”
was commemorated at the Bristol
Bangladesh Centre (Sunday 22nd was a day closest
to the 21st when the most people were available).
Our
well attended program began with the Imam from Shahjalal Mosque Reciting
from the Holy Quran and continued with prayers for those students who were
Martyred on 21st February 1952 : Rafiq
Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abdus Salam, Abdul Awaul, Abul Barkat, Shafiur
Rahman, Ahi Ullah, Bhasa Shahid and many other unnamed Martyrs.
After
prayers, the Bangladesh National anthem “My Golden Bengal” and some
other traditional Bangladeshi songs were played by the DSG
Bangladeshi musicians.
At
the end of the meeting, Mr. Rofik Uddin (DSG
President) asked all the Bangladeshi Community to consider the building of a
“Shahid Minar” (Martyrs
Memorial), which
could act as a monument, where all Bangladeshi people could come once a year
to pay their respects for those who fought for Bangladesh’s Mother Tongue.
The Shahid Minar is usually a stylistic representation of a mother
and her children, representing Bangla the mother and Bengalis, her children.
Chief
guest at the Ceremony meeting was Mr. Ahmed us Samad Chowdury J.P., Editor
of Patrika (British Bangla Weekly Newspaper) who has been a former President
of the Bristol Bangladesh Association (BBA).
Other
distinguished guests attending were :
Mr.
Syed Anwarul Haque (Past President of BBA)
Mr.
Rezaul Haque Chowdury (Current President of BBA)
Mr.
Atiqur Rahman (Vice President of BBA)
Mr.
Abdus Salam Chowdury (General Secretary of BBA)
Mr.
Musley Ahmed , (Treasurer of BBA)
Mr.
Alhaj Abdul Wahab, M.B.E., (Senior Adviser of BBA)
Further information on Omar Ekushe can be found HERE
by CandLE-Web
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