International Mother Language Day: Images That Tell The Story Of Bangladesh Bhasha Andolan

The Bangladesh Language Movement and the subsequent establishment of International Mother Language Day stand as pivotal moments in the history of linguistic rights and cultural preservation.

It was after years of struggle, marked by lives sacrificed by the youth, that the Bengalis of East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) could have Bangla as their official language | Photos: Wikimedia Commons

On March 21, 1948, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told at a public meeting in Dhaka that the state language of entire Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. The movement for Bengali language gained momentum after that | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A rally on February 4, 1952 in Dhaka to demand for acceptance of Bangla as an official language of Pakistan | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The famous Dhaka march of February 21, 1952 for the Bengali Language Movement | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A rally on February 21, 1952 in Dhaka for the language movement that saw many students dying in police action | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The 'shok (grief) rally' on Dhaka University road on February 22, 1952, a day after the killings, as the movement continued | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The language movement finally saw success as the Pakistan government was compelled to recognise Bangla as an official state language in 1956. In this image take on 21 February 1956, people can be seen standing in front of the foundation stone of the central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, the site students were killed by police on the day in 1952 | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Construction of the Shaheed Minar designed and built by Bangladeshi sculptor Hamidur Rahman in collaboration with Novera Ahmed was completed in 1963 | Photo: Wikimedia Commons