Bengali language movement

Muhammad Ali Jinnah on 21 March 1948 told at a public meeting that State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language.[17]

Students of the University of Dhaka and other colleges of the city organised a general strike on 11 March 1948 to protest the omission of Bengali language from official use, including coins, stamps and recruitment tests for the navy. The movement restated the demand that Bengali be declared an official language of the Dominion of Pakistan. Political leaders such as Shamsul Huq, Shawkat Ali, M Sirajul Islam, Kazi Golam Mahboob, Oli Ahad, Abdul Wahed and others were arrested during the rallies. Rally leader Mohammad Toaha was hospitalised after attempting to snatch a rifle from a police officer. Student leaders, including Abdul Matin and Abdul Malek Ukil took part in the procession.[9]

In the afternoon of 11 March, a meeting was held to protest police brutality and arrests. A group of students marching towards the chief minister Khawaja Nazimuddin's house was stopped in front of the Dhaka High Court. The rally changed its direction and moved in the direction of the Secretariat building. Police attacked the procession injuring several students and leaders, including A. K. Fazlul Huq.[18] Continuing strikes were observed the following four days. Under such circumstances, the chief minister Nazimuddin signed an accord with the student leaders agreeing to some terms and conditions, without complying to the demand that Bengali be made a state language.[9]

In the height of civic unrest, Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on 19 March 1948. On 21 March, at a civic reception at Racecourse Ground, he claimed that the language issue was designed by a "fifth column" to divide Pakistani Muslims.[19][20] Jinnah further declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language,[9][21][22][23] labelling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan". Jinnah delivered a similar speech at Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on 24 March.[10] At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience. He later called a meeting of a state language committee of action, and overruled the contract that was signed by Khawaja Nazimuddin with the student leaders.[18] Before Jinnah left Dhaka on 28 March, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy.[24]

Shortly thereafter, the East Bengal Language Committee, presided by Maulana Akram Khan, was formed by the East Bengal government to prepare a report on the language problem.[25] The Committee completed its report on 6 December 1950.

At nine o'clock in the morning, students began gathering on the University of Dhaka premises in defiance of Section 144. The university vice-chancellor and other officials were present as armed police surrounded the campus. By a quarter past eleven, students gathered at the university gate and attempted to break the police line. Police fired tear gas shells towards the gate to warn the students.[9] A section of students ran into the Dhaka Medical College while others rallied towards the university premises cordoned by the police. The vice-chancellor asked police to stop firing and ordered the students to leave the area. However, the police arrested several students for violating section 144 as they attempted to leave. Enraged by the arrests, the students met around the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and blocked the legislators' way, asking them to present their insistence at the assembly. When a group of students sought to storm into the building, police opened fire and killed a number of students, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Sofiur Rahman, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar.[9][27] The Government reported that 29 people died in that day.[28] As the news of the killings spread, disorder erupted across the city. Shops, offices and public transport were shut down and a general strike began.[22] At the assembly, six legislators including Manoranjan Dhar, Boshontokumar Das, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Dhirendranath Datta requested that chief minister Nurul Amin visit wounded students in hospital and that the assembly be adjourned as a sign of mourning.[29] This motion was supported by some treasury bench members including Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Shorfuddin Ahmed, Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar and Mosihuddin Ahmed.[29] However, Nurul Amin refused the requests.[9][29]

Disorder spread across the province as large processions ignored section 144 and condemned the actions of the police.[18] More than 30,000 people congregated at Curzon Hall in Dhaka. During the continued protests, police actions led to the death of four more people. This prompted officers and clerks from different organisations, including colleges, banks and the radio station, to boycott offices and join the procession.[22] Protesters burned the offices of two leading pro-government news agencies, the Jubilee Press and the Morning News.[30] Police fired on a major janaza, or mourning rally, as it was passing through Nawabpur Road. The shooting killed several people including activist Sofiur Rahman and a nine-year-old boy named Ohiullah.[9][31]

22 February rally after janaja at Dhaka Medical College on the University Dhaka road, Dhaka.

Through the night of 23 February, students of Dhaka Medical College worked on the construction of a Shaheed Smritistombho, or Monument of Martyrs. Completed at dawn on 24 February, the monument had a handwritten note attached to it with the words "Shaheed Smritistombho".[32] Inaugurated by the father of the slain activist Sofiur Rahman, the monument was destroyed on 26 February by police.[33] On 25 February, industrial workers in the town of Narayanganj observed a general strike.[34] A protest followed on 29 February whose participants faced severe police beating.[35]

The government censored news reports and withheld exact casualty figures during the protests. Most pro-government media held Hindus and communists responsible for encouraging the disorder and student unrest.[36] The families of Abul Barkat and Rafiq Uddin Ahmed tried to charge the police with murder, but the charges were dismissed by the police. On 8 April government report on the incidents failed to show any particular justification for police firings on the students.[37]

Although the Language Movement is considered to have laid the foundations for ethnic nationalism in many of the Bengalis of East Bengal and later East Pakistan, it also heightened the cultural animosity between the authorities of the two wings of Pakistan.[4][38][39] In the western wing of the Dominion of Pakistan, the movement was seen as a sectional uprising against Pakistani national interests.[40] The rejection of the "Urdu-only" policy was seen as a contravention of the Perso-Arabic culture of Muslims and the founding ideology of Pakistan, the two-nation theory.[4] Some of the most powerful politicians from the western wing of Pakistan considered Urdu a product of Indian Islamic culture, but saw Bengali as a part of "Hinduized" Bengali culture.[10] Most stood by the "Urdu only" policy because they believed that only a single language, one that was not indigenous to Pakistan, should serve as the national language. This kind of thinking also provoked considerable opposition in the western wing, wherein there existed several linguistic groups.[10] As late as in 1967, military dictator Ayub Khan said, "East Bengal is ... still under considerable Hindu culture and influence."[10]

Political tensions came to a held as elections to the provincial assembly of East Bengal were held in 1954. The ruling Muslim League denounced the opposition United Front coalition, which—led by A. K. Fazlul Huq and the Awami League—wanted greater provincial autonomy. Several United Front leaders and activists were arrested.[42] A meeting of parliament's Muslim League members, chaired by prime minister Muhammad Ali Bogra, resolved to give official recognition to Bengali. This decision was followed by a major wave of unrest as other ethnic groups sought recognition of other regional languages. Proponents of Urdu such as Maulvi Abdul Haq condemned any proposal to grant official status to Bengali. He led a rally of 100,000 people to protest against the Muslim League's decision.[43] Consequently, the implementation failed and the United Front won a vast majority of seats in the legislative assembly, while the representation of the Muslim League was reduced to a historic low.[22][43]

The United Front ministry ordered the creation of the Bangla Academy to promote, develop, and preserve Bengali language, literature, and heritage.[44] However, the United Front rule was temporary, as Governor General Ghulam Muhammad cancelled the government and started Governor's rule on 30 May 1954.[42] The United Front again formed the ministry on 6 June 1955 after the governor's regime ended. The Awami League did not participate in this ministry though.[45]

Following the return of the United Front to power, the anniversary on 21 February 1956 was observed for the first time in a peaceful atmosphere. The Government supported a major project to construct a new Shaheed Minar. The session of the constituent assembly was stopped for five minutes to express condolence for the students slain in the police shootings. Major rallies were organised by Bengali leaders and all public offices and businesses remained closed.[45][46]

With the defeat of the Muslim League in the East Bengal assembly elections, the central government became flexible in recognizing Bengali as the state language of Pakistan along with Urdu. At least a few thousand people protested in the National Assembly on April 22 against the decision.[47]

On 7 May 1954, the constituent assembly resolved, with the Muslim League's support, to grant official status to Bengali.[43] Bengali was adopted as an official language of Pakistan along with Urdu in the article 214(1) when the first constitution of Pakistan was enacted on 29 February 1956.[45] Mohammad Ali Bogra raised the language related clauses of the constitution in Parliament. According to the clauses, Bengali language was given equal recognition as state language like Urdu. In Parliament and the Legislative Assembly, besides Urdu and English, there was an opportunity to speak in Bengali. The constitution also provided opportunities for higher education in Bengali.[48]

However, the military government formed by Ayub Khan made attempts to re-establish Urdu as the sole national language. On 6 January 1959, the military regime issued an official statement and reinstated the official stance of supporting the 1956 constitution's policy of two state languages.[49]

The Bengali language movement and the banning of Rabindranath Tagore's works by the central government of Pakistan led to a movement by the intellectuals of Dhaka that led to an increase in the use of Central Standard Bengali in the city in the 1950s and 1960s.[50]

Outside East Bengal, movement for equal status of Bengali also took place in the Indian state of Assam. On 19 May 1961, 11 Bengalis were killed in police firing in Silchar Railway Station, Assam, while demanding state recognition of Bengali language. Subsequently, Bengali was given co-official status in the three Bengali-majority districts of Assam.[51]

The second Shaheed Minar (martyrs' monument) completed in 1963

Although the question of official languages was settled by 1956, the military regime of Ayub Khan promoted the interests of West Pakistan at the expense of East Pakistan. Despite forming the majority of the national population, the East Pakistani population continued to be under-represented in the civil and military services, and received a minority of state funding and other government help. Due to regional economic, social, and political imbalances, sectional divisions grew,[52] and the Bengali ethnic nationalist Awami League invoked the 6-point movement for greater provincial autonomy. One demand was that East Pakistan be called Bangladesh (Land/Country of Bengal), which subsequently led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.[4][10]

Shaheed Minar, or the Martyr's monument, located near Dhaka Medical College commemorates those who lost their lives during the protests on 21 February 1952

The Language Movement had a major cultural impact on Bengali society. It has inspired the development and celebration of the Bengali language, literature and culture. 21 February, celebrated as Language Movement Day or Shohid Dibosh (Martyrs' Day), is a major national holiday in Bangladesh. A month-long event called the Ekushey Book Fair is held every year to commemorate the movement. Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, is awarded annually in memory of the sacrifices of the movement.[53] Songs such as Abdul Gaffar Choudhury's Ekusher Gaan, set to music by Shaheed Altaf Mahmud, as well as plays, works of art and poetry played a considerable role in rousing the people's emotions during the movement.[54] Since the events of February 1952, poems, songs, novels, plays, films, cartoons and paintings were created to capture the movement from varied point of views. Notable artistic depictions include the poems Bornomala, Amar Dukhini Bornomala and February 1969 by Shamsur Rahman, the film Jibon Theke Neya by Zahir Raihan, the stage play Kobor by Munier Chowdhury and the novels Ekushey February by Raihan and Artonaad by Shawkat Osman.[55]

Two years after the first monument was destroyed by the police, a new Shaheed Minar (Monument of Martyrs) was constructed in 1954 to commemorate the protesters who lost their lives. Work on a larger monument designed by the architect Hamidur Rahman began in 1957 with the support of the United Front ministry, and approved by a planning committee chaired by University of Dhaka Vice-Chancellor Mahmud Husain and College of Fine Arts principal Zainul Abedin.[56] Hamidur Rahman's model consisted of a large complex in the yard of the Dhaka Medical College Hostel. The design included a half-circular column symbolizing a mother with her martyred sons standing at the dais in the centre of the monument. Although the imposition of martial law in 1958 interrupted the work, the monument was completed and inaugurated on 21 February 1963 by Abul Barkat's mother, Hasina Begum. Pakistani forces demolished the monument during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, but the Bangladeshi government reconstructed it in 1973.[57] Ekushey Television, one of the oldest privately owned television channels in Bangladesh, was named after the date of the event.[58]

The states of West Bengal and Tripura in India also follow and celebrate the Day by paying tribute to the unsung heroes. Moreover, all the Bengalis in India and abroad celebrate the Day for the sacrifice of lives for the sake of their first language.

The Silchar railway station has prominent portraits and a memorial of the 11 students who were killed in firing. The station in demand to call Bhasha Shahid Railway station.

Bangladesh officially sent a proposal to UNESCO to declare 21 February as International Mother Language Day. The proposal was supported unanimously at the 30th General Conference of UNESCO held on 17 November 1999.[59]