Local Bangladeshi community celebrates language and culture
EVENT ALSO TEACHES YOUTH ABOUT THEIR HERITAGE
Members of the Bangladeshi community came together at the University of Lethbridge on Saturday to celebrate their language and culture ahead of International Mother Language Day.
The event was hosted by the Bangladeshi Student Organization at the University of Lethbridge, otherwise known as BSOUL. The annual BSOUL event celebrates Bangladeshi culture and, in particular, the language, Bangla. It featured music, poetry, food and traditional dance, as well as an observance meant to pay homage to the martyrs who gave their lives protesting for the right to have their native Bangla formally recognized as an official language.
BSOUL President Moksidul Hoque said there was also programming planned for young people to learn more about their heritage.
“It’s just to let the children know about their (Bangladeshi) culture,” he said.
However, he said the event was open to anyone interested in learning more about Bengali culture.
“This is like a party,” he said, noting there was both university and community involvement.
Hoque said the Bangladeshi community in Lethbridge is tight-knit and numbers more than 100. Many of those members are the children of immigrant parents or are involved in the university either as students or as faculty.
International Day of the Mother was decreed by UNESCO for Feb. 21 in honour of the Language Movement, a political movement in Bangladesh to have Bangla recognized as an official language in order to allow its use in government, education, media, currency, stamps, and to maintain the written form of the language in Bangladeshi script. It was later formally recognized by the United Nations.
In 1948, following the end of 200 years of British colonial rule, the Dominion of Pakistan decreed Urdu to be the sole national language of that country. At the time, it was made up of a number of different ethnic groups, including a large number of Bengali people in what was known as East Pakistan (later Bangladesh).
The decision sparked protests, particularly in East Pakistan. The protests led to a crackdown on demonstrations and meetings. In response, students at the University of Dhaka held an organized protest on Feb. 21, 1952. A number of student demonstrators were killed as a result of police trying to force an end to the demonstration.
Word of those killings spread, causing further unrest. After years of conflict, the government relented, and granted official status to Bangla in 1956. In 1999, UNESCO declared Feb. 21 as International other Language Day in memory of the sacrifices made by those student demonstrators on that day.
The United Nations has decreed that languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing tangible and intangible heritage.”
Follow @jwschnarr on Twitter