They did a lot for the dignity of our mother tongue Bangla. Though none of them embraced martyrdom, they were tortured in various ways. Many of them were jailed during the movement in 1952.

But all these heroes are now either unknown or unsung.

Talking to The Daily Star, leading language veteran and educationist Khan Ziaul Huq regretted, 'No political or socio-cultural organisations here held any programme to pay tribute to the language movement soldiers and most of them have already passed away with 'heavy hearts.'

It is our duty to make aware our new generation, so that they should be ready to make supreme sacrifice for such national cause, he said.

Another language hero Aminul Islam Chandu Mian echoed the same sentiment and said ' Government should take a decision so that language heroes can get state-honour at least posthumously'.Though the language movement was launched in the capital city Dhaka, it spread to the then sub-divisional headquarters of Magura like wildfire.

At the very beginning of the language movement here, local student leaders along with general students of the then Islamic College (now the Government Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy College) began movement for establishing Bangla as the state-language.

Afterwards, they took vigorous initiatives to take the movement to remote areas of the sub-division.

Student leaders Nasirul Islam Abu Mian, Khan Ziaul Huq,Abdul Jalil Khan, Aminul Islam Chandu Mian and Azim Dewan mainly led the language movement at the sub-divisional headquarters. Khan Ziaul Huq and Aminul Islam Chandu Mian are still alive with their heavy hearts while two others have already passed away.

According to the language veterans, on February 21, 1952 Khan Ziaul Huq , Chandu Mian and some other leaders were picked up by police when they brought out a procession from Nomani maidan area and moved towards the Chourongi Square in the town.

Meanwhile, a student leader at Iqbal Hall of Dhaka University Mirza Shawkat Hossain came to Magura and held meetings at different educational institutions and played a key role in motivating the general students to join the language movement.

Another student leader of Raicharan High School A K Hamiduzzaman Ehiya with the cordial cooperation of the then headmaster of Sreepur High School Abdur Rahim Joarder began to organise the students of different institutions in the then Sreepur thana. At that time Abdus Salam, Abdur Rashed,Ali Ahmed and Jitendranath Ghosh, among others, assisted Ehiya.

Language veterans recalled, on February 21 in 1952, various programmes including rally were held at the then sub-divisional headquarters under the leadership of Nasirul Islam Abu Mian while the students of Raicharan High School in Sreepue thana placed wreath at the Shaheed Minar after building it with bamboo.