Language Martyrs' Day or Martyrs' Day or Shohid Dibosh

Language Movement Day or Language Revolution Day (Bhasha Andolon Dibosh), which is also referred to as Language Martyrs' Day or Martyrs' Day (Shohid Dibosh), is a national day of Bangladesh to commemorate protests and sacrifices to protect Bangla as a national language during the Pakistani regime in 1952.

Background
Around 1950-52, the emerging middle classes of East Bengal underwent an uprising known later as the Bangla Language Movement. Bangladeshis (then East Pakistanis) were initially agitated by a decision by the Central Pakistan Government to establish Urdu, a minority language spoken only by the supposed elite class of West Pakistan, as the sole national language for all of Pakistan. The situation was worsened by an open declaration that "Urdu and only Urdu will be the national language of Pakistan" by the governor, Khawaja Nazimuddin.

Protest
Police declared Section 144 which banned any sort of meeting. Defying this, the students of University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College and other political activists started a procession in February 21, 1952. Near the current Dhaka Medical College Hospital, police fired on the protesters and numerous people, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Sofiur Rahman, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar, died.
The movement spread to the whole of East Pakistan and the whole province came to a standstill. Afterwards, the Government of Pakistan relented and gave Bangla equal status as a national language.

Effects
This movement is thought to have sown the seeds for the independence movement which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Commemoration
To commemorate this movement, Shaheed Minar, a solemn and symbolic sculpture, was erected in the place of the massacre. The day is revered in Bangladesh and, to a somewhat lesser extent, in West Bengal as the Martyrs' Day.
UNESCO decided to observe 21 February as International Mother Language Day. The UNESCO General Conference took a decision to that took effect on 17 November 1999 when it unanimously adopted a draft resolution submitted by Bangladesh and co-sponsored and supported by 28 other countries.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

International Mother Language Day

Shaheed Minar, or the Martyr's monument, located at Dhaka University Campus, Bangladesh, commemorates the sacrifice for Bangla Language on 21 February 1952.

21 February was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999.

Its observance was also formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.

International Mother Language Day originated as the international recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) since 1952, when a number of Dhaka university students were killed by the Pakistani police and army in Dhaka during the Bengali Language Movement.

International Mother Language Day is observed yearly by UNESCO member states and at its headquarters to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

History
On 21 March 1948, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Governor general of Pakistan, declared that Urdu would be the only official language for both West and East Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), whose main language is Bengali, started to protest against this. On 21 February 1952, (8 Falgun 1359 in the Bengali calendar), students in the present day capital city of Dhaka called for a provincial strike. The government invoked a limited curfew to prevent this and the protests were tamed down so as to not break the curfew. The Pakistani police fired on the students despite these peaceful protests and a number of students were killed.

Annual themes
The observances of International Year of Languages tend to have a theme, indicated either in the formal program set for observance at UNESCO headquarters, or more explicitly in the publicity.

2000, Inaugural celebration of International Mother Language Day
2001, Second annual celebration
2002, Linguistic Diversity: 3,000 Languages in Danger (slogan: In the galaxy of languages, every word is a star)

2003, Fourth annual celebration

2004, Children's learning (the observance at UNESCO included "a unique exhibition of children’s exercise books from around the world illustrating the process by which children learn and master the use of written literacy skills in the classroom")

2005, Braille and Sign languages
2006, Languages and Cyberspace
2007, Multilingual education
2008, International Year of Languages

International observances
The Linguapax Prize is presented annually on International Mother Language Day.
UNESCO sets the theme for each International Mother Language Day and holds related events at its headquarters in Paris on or around 21 February each year.
In 2008, the International Year of Languages was formally launched on International Mother Language Day.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Shaheed Minar or the Martyrs' monument

Shaheed Minar, or the Martyrs' monument, located near Dhaka Medical College.

The Shaheed Minar (Bengali: Shohid Minar) is a national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate those killed during the Language Movement demonstrations of 1952.

On February 21, 1952, dozens of students and political activists were killed when the Pakistani police force opened fire on Bengali protesters who were demanding equal status to their native tongue, Bangla.

The massacre occurred near Dhaka Medical College and Ramna Park in Dhaka.

A makeshift monument was erected on February 23by students of University of Dhaka and other educational institutions, but soon demolished on February 26 by the Pakistani police force.
The Language Movement gained momentum and after a long struggle, Bangla was given equal status as Urdu.

To commemorate the dead, the Shaheed Minar was designed and built by Hamidur Rahman, a Bangladeshi sculptor.

The monument stood until the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, when it was demolished completely during Operation Searchlight, during which the Pakistani Army estimates they inflicted 26,000 civilian deaths, while other organizations such as National Geographic estimate casualties numbering over 3 million.

After Bangladesh gained independence, it was rebuilt.

Today, the Shaheed Minar is the centre of cultural activities in Dhaka. Every year, the Language Movement is remembered at the monument.


The First Shaheed Minar

The first Shaheed Minar, built on February 22, 1952. It was demolished by Pakistan Police and Army four days later.
The first Shaheed Minar was built immediately after the events of February 21. According to Saeed Hayder, a main planner and the designer of the first Shaheed Minar, the decision to build it was first taken by the students of Dhaka Medical College. The planning started at midnight on February 22 and the work started the next day.This Minar was sponsored by Pearu Sardar, one of the old dhaka panchayet sardars when some of the students asked his help at the midnight of 22 February to contribute the raw materials needed to build the monument. Although curfew was in place, students started building the Minar in the afternoon of February 23. They worked through the night and finished it at dawn. A hand written paper was attached to the Minar with ‘Shaheed Smritistombho’ written on it. The original Minar measured 10 feet (3.0 m) by 6 feet.The Minar was inaugurated by the father of Sofiur Rahman, killed during the massacre. It was demolished within a few days by the police and Pakistani Army.

Shaheed Minar (1963-1971)
When the Awami League government came to power, it became possible to construct the new monument without fear of government retribution.

Famous architect Hamidur Rahman created the design of Shaheed Minar under which construction was started in 1957.

The foundation stone of this Shaheed Mianar was laid on February 21, 1956. Hamidur Rahman’s model was a huge complex on a large area of land in the yard of Dhaka Medical College Hostel.

The enormous design included a half-circular column to symbolize the mother with her fallen sons standing on the monument's central dais. Yellow and deep blue pieces of stained glass, symbolizing eyes reflecting the sun, were also to be placed in the columns. The marble floor was designed to reflect the moving shadows of the columns. The basement of the Minar also included a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) fresco depicting the history of the language movement. A railing decorated with Bangla alphabet was to be constructed in front. Two footmarks coloured red and black, indicating the two opposite forces, were also in the design. Besides this a museum and a library were also included in Rahman's design. A fountain shaped like an eye was also to be constructed. Rahman specifically designed the materials of the monument to withstand the area's tropical climate.

Construction started in November 1957 under the supervision of Hamidur Rahman and Novera Ahmed. Most of the work, including the basement, platform, some of the columns with the rails, footprints and some of the murals were also finished when the Martial Law was introduced and construction was forced to a halt. Construction work was completed in 1963, leaving much of Rahman’s design unfinished. It was inaugurated on February 21, 1963 by the mother of Abul Barkat, Hasina Begum. The Minar was severely damaged during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The columns were destroyed during the fighting. The Pakistani Army crushed the Minar and placed over the rubble a signboard reading "Mosque."

Current Shaheed Minar
The current Shaheed Minar design mainly follows the original plan of 1957. The minars are constructed with pure marble stone upon a 14 feet (4.3 m) high stage. The stairs and railings are painted white to create a heavenly appearance. The fence on both sides is highlighted with lines from poems of famous poets in iron letters. The entrance of the monument includes two statues.
The previous plan of Watch house, library and other statues were also included.
The plan was again accepted on May 5, 1973 and Hamidur made a rough agreement to submit to the Purto Secretary for sanction.
Previously, in February 1973, the government had hurried to repair the Shaheed Minar. As a result the Minar was constructed incorrectly. The height of the column was shorter and the head bent more than originally planned, and the proportions of different parts of the monument were not propertly maintained.
Repair of the Shaheed Minar was again started during the Ershad regime. This time the main stage and the columns were unchanged, but the stairs were extended forward and the huts at the bottom of the Minar were closed. The front premise was also made higher. As a result, the area of the premises and the stairs was increased.

Replicas

A replica of the Shaheed Minar at Altab Ali Park, in east London
The large scale emigration of Bangladeshis to other parts of the globe has led to several permanent replicas of the Shaheed Minar being built outside Bangladesh. Two of these are in England. One is in Altab Ali Park, near Whitechapel and Brick Lane in Tower Hamlets, east London. The second is in the Westwood neighbourhood of Oldham, in Greater Manchester.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)