Feature: Bangladeshis pay tribute to their martyred language heroes

Women wore black and white sharees, Bangladesh's national dress for females, in their own traditional style while men in Panjabi and Payjama, long white tunic-like shirt worn over close-fitting or baggy white pants as they gathered at the central monument here to pay tribute to the country's martyred language heroes.

People from all strata of society, barefooted and wearing black badges thronged to the Central Shaheed Minar, a solemn and iconic monument in the city, to lay wreaths and bouquets of flowers to show their deep respect to the sons of Bangladesh who sacrificed their lives on this day in 1952 to promote Bangla as a state language of the then East Pakistan.

Even boys and children, who came with their parents covering their heads and foreheads in the national flag, wore colorful traditional dresses.

The whole area surrounding Shaheed Minar has been decorated with festoons, banners, walls and roads painted with Bangla alphabets.

Like in previous years, the walls on the Dhaka University campus in front of the Shaheed Minar have been inscribed with quotations from Bangla literature befitting the occasion, and poets were heard reciting poems as they sat on street islands.

By afternoon on Saturday, the entire Shaheed Minar turned into a veritable sea of flowers.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the language martyrs by laying floral wreaths at the altar of the Central Shaheed Minar one minute after zero hour Saturday marking the language martyrs' day, February 21, which is now also being observed across the world as International Mother Language Day.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared on Nov. 17, l999 February 21 as International Mother Language Day. Since then the date has been observed throughout the world every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

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 people, including many varsity students, were killed in a police firing in Dhaka during a Bengali language movement protests.

Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar, Safiur and other brave sons of now Bangladesh sacrificed their lives on that day in 1952 as they marched in the streets calling for the use of Bangla as the official language of the then East Pakistan.

Members of civic organizations also joined the commemoration by placing fresh flower wreaths at the foot of the monument. The wreathes were shaped like the Bangladesh national flag, green in color and rectangular in size with a red circle on the green background.

A very sad and touching song, Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano (My Brothers Blood Spattered), was to be played repeatedly in electronic media and cultural gatherings throughout the month, and especially on February 21 as part of the commemoration activities.

"Our generation after generation will come here every year to pay homage to our 21st February language heroes. They have made us proud with their heroic deeds. We can never forget them," said Hamidul Isalm who queued behind hundreds to place flowers at the monument. "This year is very special for me because it is the first time that my three-old son has witnessed the event," Isalm said.

Bangladesh people, not just in the capital city but also elsewhere in the country, which became independent in 1971, also placed floral wreaths at thousands of monuments across the country. Endi