International Day of Mother Language

Today 21st February Marks International Day for the celebration of our linguistically diverse universe as a linguistical beings we engage in the celebration of this day not just to make fun of gathering, make posts or mere remembrance of certain language but to appreciate the struggle of mankind in keeping the mortality of the linguistically diverse universe high, to appreciate and remember our ancestors who managed to keep for us the linguistically colorful environment despite the hardships faced them and also remember the victims and the survivors of cultural genocides around the world

We celebrate international day for the languages or International Mother Language Day to remind ourselves as a speaking beings that we as humans having linguistically diverse environment is not an act of the human weakness or curse but strength that need to be preserved for the generations to come after our ascension to other world other than the one which we are existing in as existential beings

We celebrate International Mother Language Day every year on 21st February to promote and encourage the existential state of our cultural and linguistical diversity that we found or inherited from the beings lived before us and it helps us to keep our linguistical values that contribute positively towards self-concept, self-understanding or greater connection with the cultural identity we belong to as rational beings

The celebration of this day as a day for the celebration of all mother languages around the world was set by the UNESCO on November 17th 1999 in recognition and celebration of the lives of four young Bengali students who were murdered in Dhaka the capital of Bangladesh because of their Bengali and Urdu linguistical differences on 21st February 1952 and in Bangladesh this day is set as a national holiday (Language Martyrs’ Day) This day has been observed throughout the world since 21 February 2000 as an International Mother Language Day

Our communicational tools which we call Languages are the perfect instruments of the cultural promotions, preservation and development yet when we use them wrongly they can become instruments of the destruction of our species as humans

The historical genesis of this day goes back to 1947 Partition of India & Pakistan the Bengal province was divided into two parts as west and east by then the western part became India and the eastern part became East Bengal and later it came to be known as East Pakistan. At that time the people of that part of the universe were diverse in many ways economic, social and cultural fields so the linguistical issues became hotter in 1948 when the government of Pakistan made Urdu as a national language so that ignited protests among Bengali speaking majority of East Pakistan.

The Bengali linguistical movement continued the struggle for the fixture of Bengali language in the state until 21st February 1952 some students of the University of Dhaka organized a protest with the linguistical activists the protest continued later that day it went out of normal police control and the police had to gun down four of the Bengali students and that struggle or the martyrdom of those four students who went out on the streets for the preservation of the mother language is now celebrated by the world as international mother language day around the world to tell them that we will never forget their sacrifices and encourage the linguistical and cultural diversity and tolerance wherever we are as thinking beings

Until then we remain celebrating the linguistical diversity we found ourselves in!

Mohammed Yagoub (Zerick)
Your comrade/brother in free thought
21st February 2020