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Also called Ekushey Day, Martyrs’ Day or Language Movement Day, this day commemorates the students who were killed by Pakistani police on Feb. 21, 1952 while they were campaigning for the recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan. After this event, the movement gained momentum and Bangla was recognized as one of the state languages of Pakistan at a session of parliament on May 9, 1954. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 1971, this day became a national holiday. At one minute past midnight on Feb. 21, the president of Bangladesh arrives at the Shaheed Minar, the

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in November 1999. The International Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage.

2nd Wave January 26, 1952 The Basic Principles Committee of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan announces its recommendation that Urdu should be the only state language. In a public meting at Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, Prime Minister Nazimuddin declares that Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan. Both the developments spark off the second wave of language agitation in East Bengal. January 28, 1952 The students of Dhaka University in a protest meeting call the Prime Minister and the Provincial Ministers as stooges of West Pakistan. January 30, 1952 In a secret meeting called by the Awami League, which is attended by a number of communist front as well as other organizations, it is agreed that the language agitation can not be successfully carried by the students alone. To mobilize full political and student support, it is decided that the leadership of the movement should be assumed by the Awami League under Bhashani.

1st Wave September 15, 1947 Tamuddun Majlis (Cultural Society, an organization by scholars, writers and journalists oriented towards Islamic ideology) in a booklet titled State Language of Pakistan : Bengali or Urdu? demands Bengali as one of the state language of Pakistan. The Secretary of the Majlis, at that time a Professor of Physics in Dhaka University, [Abul Kashem] was the first person to convene a literary meeting to discuss the State Language issue in the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, a student residence of Dhaka University. Supporters and sympathizers soon afterwards formed a political party, the Khilafate-Rabbani Party with Abul Hasim as the Chairman. (-- Talukder Maniruzzaman) November 1947 In Karachi, the representatives of East Bengal attending the Pakistan Educational Conference, called by the Minister of Education Fazlur Rahman, a Bengali, oppose Urdu as the only national language. February 23, 1948 Direndra Nath Dutta, a Bengali opposition member, moves a resol...