Paragraph On Language Movement
The Language Movement was a unique
movement carried out in East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh. Pakistan came to
being in 1947. The Pakistani rulers refused to give proper honour to Bangla,
the language of 56% population of Pakistan who lived in the east while East
Pakistan. In March 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the then Governor General of
Pakistan, declared in the convocation of Dhaka University that Urdu and only
Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan. The patriotic people of Bangladesh
took it as a great blow to their culture. This declaration sowed the seed of the Bangla Language Movement. The students and the politically conscious people
made a strong protest against this. On February 21, 1952, the Language Movement
Committee decided to go to the East Pakistan Assembly House from Dhaka
University. The East Pakistan government promulgated section 144 in the
University and Assembly area. The students of East Pakistan violated it. The
police opened fire and the streets of Dhaka University were stained with the
blood of Barkat, Rafique, Salam, Jabbar, and others. The following day's strike
paralyzed the whole of East Pakistan. At last, the Pakistani rulers were
compelled to accept Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan. This
Language Movement created a new national awareness which culminated in the
creation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh observes 21 February as Martyr Day. The UNO
declared this day as International Mother Language Day.
