Bangladesh missions observe Martyrs' Day

Bangladesh’s missions in different capitals have observed the Feb 21 Shaheed Dibas or Martyrs' Day with due solemnity.

The day is also being commemorated worldwide as International Mother Language Day after UNESCO’s recognition in 1999.

Discussions, cultural show and reading out of the messages from the president and the prime minister were some of the highlights of the observance.

National flag was kept at half-mast and wreaths were placed at the makeshift Shaheed Minars in tribute to the Language Movement martyrs of 1952.

Special prayers were also offered for those who lost their life for establishing Bangla as state language in the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Members of expatriate Bangladeshi community, officials and mission staff joined the daylong events.

State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim who is in New Delhi joined the observance of the day at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali recalled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s special move to get the UNESCO approve a Dhaka-led resolution to declare Feb 21 as the International Mother Language Day.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Mohammad Ziauddin led the embassy officials and staff to place wreaths at the altar of Shaheed Minar on the embassy premises.

Director TESOL World Language & Culture at American University Polina Vinogradova joined the embassy discussion on the significance of the day.

Cultural troupes from Afghanistan, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Guyana, Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Mexico, Peru and Bosnia presented songs and dances.

The Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad said the chancery premises were decorated with Martyrs’ Day posters and inscriptions of Bangla alphabets.

High Commissioner Tarik Ahsan paid tribute to the language martyrs and recalled with gratitude the participation by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other activists of the progressive political parties and socio-cultural organisations in the Language Movement.

Bangladesh Ambassador in Copenhagen Muhammad A Muhith highlighted the socio-economic progress of Bangladesh while speaking on the significance of the day at a discussion organised by the embassy.

He called upon the expatriate Bangladesh community “to educate and enlighten their children with Bangla and Bengali culture so that they don't get detached from their roots”.

In Austria, the embassy observed the day at the Vienna International Centre with the participation of UN officials in the capital.

President of Atatük Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History Prof Dr DeryaÖrs, Rector of Hacettepe University, a premier university of Turkey, Prof Dr A HalukÖzen took part in the observance of the day in Bangladesh mission in Ankara.

Ambassador M Allama Siddiki highlighted the significance of the day.

Apart from Bangladesh embassy, embassies of Brazil, Congo, Denmark, Indonesia, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan and Ankara State Classical Turkish Music Choir performed in their own languages in the cultural event.