Ekushe February and the Mother Tongue
Today is the 21st February, celebrated worldwide as the International Mother Tongue day. This day was notified by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. It Is a matter of pride for all Bengalis and particularly for the Bangladeshis that this day was designated in recognition of the struggle for their mother tongue that the then East Pakistanis conducted in 1952. The history of this day is not so very well known, even among the Bengalis. It will be instructive to recall the struggle for the Bengali language that took place in 1952. The foundation for this struggle was laid immediately after Independence which left India divided on the basis of religion into a largely Hindu, but secular India and a largely Muslim, but, now almost forgotten, secular Pakistan. Jinnah, the architect of the partition speaking on the occasion of Independence said “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free ...