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Twenty-first of Fifty-two: Outside Dhaka

Hasan Azizul Huq
The language movement that took place in our country in 1952 is part of our history, and for that reason many consider it to be a thing of the past. But history does not mean the mere past, nor is it some terrible event falling from the sky that is disconnected from the present. History is a flow, and it also has some back-pull; for this reason it is also the present time forever. The language movement carries huge importance in the annals of progressive democratic movements in Bangladesh; the struggle for self-determination of the Bangali nation and the achievement of a sovereign Bangladesh was an outcome of that movement; in the flourishing of the middle class; in the fight to realize distinctiveness in thoughts, knowledge and intelligence; in the movement for establishing an exploitation-free socialist society in the backdrop of one that was severely bruised due to the bites of exploitations and repression, the language movement of fifty-two has continuously energised and inspired us in our struggles.
Details can be obtained of what happened in Dhaka on 21 February of 1952; it can be gathered from various sources. The picture of 21 February becomes more or less clear by piecing together information and news items collected from different sources and by comparing and contrasting those. Detailed descriptions of the preceding and subsequent events of 21 February are also available. But what is not clear is what happened in the vast mofussil or semi-urban areas of an enormous rural Bangladesh outside Dhaka.
Most of the happenings that took place outside Dhaka before and after 21 February are now on the verge of getting lost under the dust of time. Newspapers could be the main source for such information. But 'Pakistan Observer' then remained shut due to a government order and 'Ittefaq’ was not yet bom. Therefore, whoever wants to collect information about the language movement today will have to look at the ‘Morning News’. That is because we have no other option but to examine this newspaper to know about the thinkings of the ruling coterie, whom it represented, and the extent of their conspiracy against the people of Bangladesh. On the other hand, a more or less clear picture of the language movement can also be obtained by scrutinising the daily 'Azad'. In his statement, Abul Hashim had specifically commended the role of ‘Azad’ alongside the periodicals ‘Millat’ and ‘insaf. But these old newspapers are now quite scarce.
Those who had come into contact with the language movement in one way or another in the remote and semi-urban areas of the country are at the fag end of their lives. Among them, the reminiscences of those who are still quite conscious and can supply information about the national and social perspectives of that time would have been valuable. The language movement was never a linear one, rather the currents of many events had met and blended with the occurrences of 21 February. Below the clearly articulated demands were the unspoken ones. Just as the demand for making Bangla the principal state language was pronounced in a thunderous tone, it was also linked to the life and livelihood of the middle-class people, and art, literature required for the flourishing of that class. Just as it contained the question of freedom of practicing one’s culture and upholding democratic principles, similarly the language movement incorporated a fiery resolve to break up into pieces the unspeakably repressive and exploitative society. That resolve found expression through a massive explostion of emotions. The events that took place outside Dhaka in semi-urban or semi-rural areas a- - t
can be divided into three classes. These were: events prior to 21 February, events of 21 February, and events after 21 February.
The first page headline of the daily ‘Azad’ in large letters on Thursday, 21 February were: ‘Processions banned for one month’. The magistrate of Dhaka clamped down section-144 in the city on Wednesday, 20 February. The previous day’s ‘Azad’ showed 39 lawyers of Dhaka issuing a statement in support of the demand for making Bangla the state language. After the passage of a resolution condoling the deaths of some eminent personalities including King George VI of Britain at 3 pm on Wednesday, 20 February, a member of the East Bengal legislative assembly Najmul Haque asked the education minister Abdul Hamid whether the government had accepted the recommendations of the language committee. In reply, the minister informed that the recommendations were not yet accepted, but he wanted to inform the assembly that those were under consideration of the government. In response, the member Haranchandra Ghosh Chowdhury wanted to know why the language committee recommendations were not being accepted by the (Continued to the next page)