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International Mother Language Day

International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 Multilingualism in 2002.

History

When Pakistan was created in 1947, it had two geographically separate parts: East Pakistan (currently known as Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (currently known as Pakistan). The two parts were very different to each other in sense of culture, language, etc. The two parts were also separated by India in between.

In 1948, the then Government of Pakistan declared Urdu to be the sole national language of Pakistan. The East Pakistan people protested, since the majority of their mother language was Bangla. They demanded Bangla to be at least one of the national languages, in addition to Urdu. The demand was raised first by Dhirendranath Datta from East Pakistan on 23 February 1948, in the constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

To demolish the protest, the government of Pakistan outlawed public meeting and rallies. The students of the University of Dhaka, with the support of the general public, arranged massive rallies and meetings. On 21 February 1952, police opened fire on rallies causing deaths and injury of several people. This is a rare incident in history, where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.

International Mother Language Day resolution was suggested by Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam, Bengalis living in Vancouver, Canada. They wrote a letter to Kofi Annan asking him to take a step for saving the world's languages from extinction. Rafiqul Islam's proposal was introduced in the Bangladesh parliament and in due course a formal proposal was submitted to UNESCO by the Government of Bangladesh. The process of shepherding the proposal through UNESCO's regulatory system was undertaken. Finally on 17 November 1999 the 30th General Assembly of UNESCO unanimously resolved.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

Timeline

    1952: Bengali Language Movement

    2002: Linguistic-diversity theme, featuring 3,000 endangered languages (motto: In the galaxy of languages, every word is a star.)

    2004: Children-learning theme; the UNESCO observance included "a unique exhibition of children’s exercise books from around the world illustrating the process by which children learn and master the use of written literacy skills in the classroom".

    2005: Braille and sign languages

    2006: Languages and cyberspace

    2007: Multilingual education

    2013: Books for mother-tongue education

    2014: Local languages for global citizenship: spotlight on science

    2018: Our languages, our assets.

    2019: International Year of Indigenous Languages

    2020: Safeguarding linguistic diversity

Observances

UNESCO chooses a theme for each International Mother Language Day, and sponsors related events at its Paris headquarters. In 2008, the International Year of Languages began on International Mother Language Day. It is celebrated in Chile, India, Russia, the Philippines, Egypt and Canada.