Russian House in Dhaka organized a discussion program to mark the International Mother Language Day jointly with Liberation War Academy Trust.
Director of Russian House in Dhaka Mr. Maxim Dobrokhotov paid deep respects to all Language Martyrs, especially to Salam, Rafiq, Barkat, Jabbar, Shafiur, young students from Dhaka University, who made on this day in 1952 their sublime sacrifice for establishing Bangla as a state language of the erstwhile Pakistan. He also said that in recognition of the Language Movement in Bangladesh, UNESCO has declared February 21 International Mother Language Day to promote linguistic and cultural diversity in the UN member-states. The declaration was made on November 17, 1999. He reminded that The Language Movement inspired the Bengali nation to fight against injustices and exploitation unto achieving national independence in 1971.
Main Speaker Language activist and renowned linguist Dr. ABM Amanullah highlighted that «despite the status of the official language, Bengali is not still used as mother tongue properly in Bangladesh and often replaced by English and this is really shameful».
«Seventy-seven percent of primary schools in Bangladesh do not have language martyr memorials to pay homage to them. So many students construct martyr’s minaret on their own initiative!», - said Asif Mazhar, a linguistic expert & academician, quoting several dailies in Bangladesh. He emphasized on mother tongue Bengali at all levels and added that «in all possible cases we should exclude English in order to protect the dignity of mother tongue».
Freedom fighter Md. Abdur Rauf Bhuiyan recalled that all this year long is celebration of the 50th anniversary of friendly relations between Bangladesh and Russia and recited an emotional self-written poem on 50 years of friendship between the two countries.
Liberation War Academy Trust Chairman Dr. Abul Azad spoke on the occasion. Prominent freedom fighters of the country, family members of freedom fighters, cultural activists and students of various educational institutions were present on the occasion.