BENGALI LANGUAGE MOVEMENT:

The Language Movement was the first step towards our Liberation War. In 1947 British India was partitioned and two geographically distant and culturally different regions were united under the name of Pakistan. Bengalispeaking people in East Pakistan made up 44 million of the total population of 69 million. But government, civil services, and military of Pakistan were dominated by West Pakistanis. Though Urdu was not the native language of any part of Pakistan, in 1947, a key resolution at a national education summit in Karachi advocated Urdu as the sole state language. Widespread opposition and protests immediately arose. Assembly member Dhirendranath Datta proposed legislation in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to allow members to speak in Bengali and authorize its use for official purposes. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and the Muslim League denounced the proposal as an attempt to divide the Pakistani people.

Students of the University of Dhaka and other organized a general strike in 11 March 1948 to restate the demand that Bengali be declared an official language of Pakistan. On that day police attacked a procession injuring several students and leaders including A. K. Fazlul Huq. In protest of this brutality, continuing strikes were observed from 12 March to 15 March, 1948. At the height of civic unrest, Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah came to Dhaka and declared

that "Urdu and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language, labeling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan" in his speeches at a civic reception at Racecourse Ground on 21 March and Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on 24 March, 1948. At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience.

The Urdu-Bengali controversy was reignited when Governor General Khawaja Nazimuddin, defended the "Urdu-only" policy in a speech on January 27, 1952. On January 31, 1952 the Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod was formed in a meeting at the University of Dhaka, chaired by Maulana Bhashani. The action committee called for an all out protest on 21 February, 1952 including strikes and rallies. As the preparations were going on, the government imposed Section 144 in the city of Dhaka, thereby banning any gatherings of more than four people. At 11 AM of 21 February, 1952 students gathered at the university gate and attempted to break the police line. Police arrested several students for violating Section 144. Police also opened fire and killed a number of students, including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar.

Bangladesh officially sent a proposal to UNESCO to declare 21 February as "International Mother Language Day." The proposal was supported unanimously at the 30th General Conference