Bangladesh bows before Language Movement martyrs

Bangladeshis are bowing their gratitude to the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement that acted as a trigger for Bengalis to carve an independent nation out of Pakistan 29 years later.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the tribute on the first hour to the heroes and were joined by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Thousands of people from all echelons of society began descending on the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka – and millions more throughout the country – since late Friday night.

They joined political leaders, diplomats, and social and cultural activists to pay their respects.

This day in 1952, police shot dead several students protesting against the then Pakistan government decision to impose Urdu as the sole state language on the people of erstwhile East Pakistan.

President Hamid was the first to pay his tribute past midnight. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid her homage after him.

Warming Up: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shake hands at the Central Shaheed Minar on the first hour of Saturday. Photo Credit: Mamata Banerjee via Facebook

Hasina then shook hands with Banerjee and the two exchanged pleasantries there.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was the next to pay tribute followed by UK Parliament’s Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza.

Banerjee paid homage after them accompanied by two of her ministers, High Commissioner Pankaj Saran, and several cultural activists.

Cabinet members and the prime minister’s advisers then came forward and laid wreaths at the Shaheed Minar. They were followed by the ruling Awami League-led 14-Party coalition functionaries.

Leader of the Opposition Raushon Ershad came there about 10 minutes past midnight. Her husband and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad was with her.

But BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia did not show up. Her party is enforcing a blockade across Bangladesh since Jan 5 that has left about 100 people dead.

Chiefs of the three forces, Inter Parliamentary Union Chairman Saber Hossain Chowdhury, ambassadors of various countries, the attorney general, the Sector Commanders Forum and Dhaka University Teachers Association paid tributes before the Shaheed Minar was opened to the public.

Soon it was deluged with flowers and many more were waiting their turn.

The immortal line -- “‘Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano Ekushey February, Ami Ki Bhulite Pari’ (Can I forget the twenty-first of February/ incarnadined by the love of my brother?) -- was on their lips.

In a message, the president remembered the sacrifice of the gallant souls who laid down their lives in the movement.

The prime minister, in another message, said the Ekushey was the symbol of “grief, strength and glory in the life of every Bangalee”.

The UNESCO in 1999 had declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day.

A programme will be held at the UN headquarters in New York marking the day. Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the UN, too, will organise programmes.

The day is a national holiday. The national flag will fly at half-mast in honour of the martyrs.