Bangladeshis mark Mother Language Day

Envoy pays tribute to Bhasha Andolan martyrs while hailing sacrifices of Emirati heroes in region

International Mother Language Day reminds humanity of its responsibility to protect smaller languages across the world, a top Bangladeshi diplomat said yesterday.

“Languages spoken by a limited number of people are part of the intangible heritage of humanity. They should survive and we have to protect them,” Mohammad Imran, Bangladeshi Ambassador to the UAE, said.

At a commemoration ceremony at the Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi yesterday, International Mother Language Day commemorates martyrs of Bangladesh’s Bhasha Andolan (language movement), who laid down their lives on February 21, 1952, to establish Bangla (Bengali) as a state language.

The day was declared International Mother Language Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on November 17, 1999.

the ambassador raised the national flag half-mast to pay respect to the martyrs.

“We know the pain of people who laid down their lives for a cause and their loved ones. Therefore, we realise the value of sacrifice of Emirati martyrs who lost their lives for peace in the region,” Imran said. He also paid tributes to Emirati martyrs, especially Juma Mohammad Abdullah Al Kaabi, former UAE ambassador to Afghanistan, and his colleagues who died in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan recently.

Around 300 Bangladeshi expats attended the event at the embassy. A similar event was held at the Bangladeshi Consulate General in Dubai also.

At a separate ceremony at Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School in Abu Dhabi, pupils, teachers and parents paid floral tributes to a replica of Shahid Minar (martyrs monument) at Dhaka University. The replica was made using steel and aluminium frames.

Pupils sang patriotic songs and performed dances. Imran distributed prizes to winners of an essay competition.