Feature

Taslima Rawshan

“International Mother Language Day” is a day to remember and honor those great language martyrs who sacrificed their lives on 21st February 1952 to establish the rights of their mother language i.e. Bangla. The great Bangalees who sacrificed their lives for the language movement set a rare example in world history. There is no other nation that sacrificed lives to establish their mother tongue. Therefore the Language Movement of 21st February is a proud and historical chapter for Bangladesh and the Bangla Language.

On November 1999, UNESCO passed a regulation and declared 21st February as International Mother Language Day with the official request of Bangladesh Government. Henceforth “The International Mother Language Day” is observed every year in UNESCO member States and at its headquarters to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

Every year on 21 February Bangladesh celebrates its Bangla Language Movement day. The day is observed throughout the country to pay homage to the souls of the martyrs of Language Movement.

DUCSU collection centre in Dhaka University plays a significant role in preserving the history of Amar Ekushey. One person whose contribution towards this organization was great is Gopal Das, an artist. For a long time he has been collecting many important records like national and international issues, various paper cuttings, photographs, and some important documents regarding the language movement as well as the Liberation War. He also maintains collections of some documents of 1990's. To present his collection for the wellbeing of nation a plan was taken in 1991 with a view to establishing this organization i.e. the DUCSU collection centre, which was ultimately formed in 1992. The reminiscent of the historical Amtola of Dhaka University is being preserved in this centre.

(Student of DU)