he
Bengali Language Movement, also known as the
Language Movement (
Bengali: ভাষা আন্দোলন;
Bhasha Andolon), was a political movement in former
East Bengal (today
Bangladesh) advocating the recognition of the
Bengali language as an
official language of the then-
Dominion of Pakistan in order to allow its use in government affairs, the continuation of its use as a medium of education, its use in media,
currency and stamps, and to maintain its writing in the
Bengali script.
When the
Dominion of Pakistan was formed by the
partition of India in 1947, it was composed of various ethnic and linguistic groups, with the geographically non-contiguous
East Bengal province (that was
renamed in 1956 as
East Pakistan) having a mainly
Bengali population. In 1948, the
Government of the Dominion of Pakistan ordained
Urdu as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Bengal. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the
University of Dhaka and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest led by the
Awami Muslim League, later renamed the
Awami League. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. In 1999,
UNESCO declared 21 February as
International Mother Language Day,
[1] in tribute to the Language Movement and the ethno-linguistic rights of people around the world.
The Language Movement catalysed the assertion of Bengali national identity in East Bengal and later
East Pakistan, and became a forerunner to Bengali nationalist movements, including the
6-Point Movement and subsequently the
Bangladesh Liberation Warand
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in 1971. In Bangladesh, 21 February is observed as
Language Movement Day, a national holiday. The
Shaheed Minar monument was constructed near Dhaka Medical College in memory of the movement and its victims.
Background[edit]
The present nations of
Pakistan and
Bangladesh were part of undivided India during the
British colonial rule. From the mid-19th century, the
Urdu language had been promoted as the
lingua franca of
Indian Muslims by political and religious leaders, such as
Sir Khwaja Salimullah,
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,
Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk and
Maulvi Abdul Haq.
[2][3] Urdu is an
Indo-Aryan language of the
Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the
Indo-European family of languages. It developed under
Persian,
Arabic and
Turkicinfluence on
apabhramshas (last linguistic stage of the medieval Indian Aryan language
Pali-
Prakrit)
[4] in
South Asia during the
Delhi Sultanate and
Mughal Empire.
[5] With its
Perso-Arabic script, the language was considered a vital element of the Islamic culture for Indian Muslims;
Hindi and the
Devanagari script were seen as fundamentals of
Hindu culture.
[2]
While the use of Urdu grew common with Muslims in northern India, the Muslims of
Bengal (a province in the eastern part of British Indian sub-continent) primarily used the Bengali language. Bengali is an
Eastern Indo-Aryan language that arose from the eastern
Middle Indic languages around 1000 CE
[6] and developed considerably during the
Bengal Renaissance. As early as the late 19th century, social activists such as the
Muslim feminist Roquia Sakhawat Hussain were choosing to write in Bengali to reach out to the people and develop it as a modern literary language. Supporters of Bengali opposed Urdu even before the
partition of India, when delegates from Bengal rejected the idea of making Urdu the lingua franca of Muslim India in the 1937
Lucknow session of the
Muslim League. The Muslim League was a
British Indian political party that became the driving force behind the creation of
Pakistan as a
Muslim state separate from British India.
[7]
Early stages of the movement[edit]
Britain's holdings on the
Indian subcontinent were granted independence in 1947 and 1948, becoming four new independent states: the
Dominion of India, the
Union of Burma (now Myanmar),
Dominion of Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka), and the
Dominion of Pakistan (including
East Bengal, from 1956
East Pakistan, 1971-today
Bangladesh).
After the partition of India in 1947, Bengali-speaking people in
East Bengal, the non-contiguous eastern part of the
Dominion of Pakistan, made up 44 million of the newly formed Dominion of Pakistan's 69 million people.
[8] The Dominion of Pakistan's government, civil services, and military, however, were dominated by personnel from the western wing of the Dominion of Pakistan.
[9] In 1947, a key resolution at a national education summit in
Karachi advocated Urdu as the sole state language, and its exclusive use in the media and in schools.
[10][11] Opposition and protests immediately arose. Students from Dhaka rallied under the leadership of
Abul Kashem, the secretary of
Tamaddun Majlish, a Bengali Islamic cultural organisation. The meeting stipulated Bengali as an official language of the Dominion of Pakistan and as a medium of education in East Bengal.
[12] However, the
Pakistan Public Service Commission removed Bengali from the list of approved subjects, as well as from currency notes and stamps. The central education minister
Fazlur Rahman made extensive preparations to make Urdu the only state language of the Dominion of Pakistan.
[13] Public outrage spread, and a large number of Bengali students met on the University of Dhaka campus on 8 December 1947 to formally demand that Bengali be made an official language. To promote their cause, Bengali students organised processions and rallies in Dhaka.
[8][dead link]
Leading Bengali scholars argued why only Urdu should not be the state language. The linguist
Muhammad Shahidullah pointed out that Urdu was not the native language of any part of Pakistan, and said, "If we have to choose a second state language, we should consider Urdu."
[14] The writer
Abul Mansur Ahmed said if Urdu became the state language, the educated society of East Bengal would become 'illiterate' and 'ineligible' for government positions.
[15] The first
Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad (National Language Action Committee), an organisation in favour of Bengali as a state language was formed towards the end of December 1947. Professor
Nurul Huq Bhuiyan of the Tamaddun Majlish convened the committee.
[8][16] Later, Parliament member
Shamsul Huqconvened a new committee to push for Bengali as a state language. Assembly member
Dhirendranath Datta proposed legislation in the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to allow members to speak in Bengali and authorise its use for official purposes.
[8] Datta's proposal was supported by legislators
Prem Hari Burman,
Bhupendra Kumar Datta and
Sris Chandra Chattaopadhyaya of East Bengal, as well as the people from the region.
[8]Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan and the Muslim League denounced the proposal as an attempt to divide the Pakistani people, thus the legislation was defeated.
[8][17]
Agitations of 1948[edit]
Rallies at the University of Dhaka area.
Students of the
University of Dhaka and other colleges of the city organized a general strike in 11 March 1948 to protest the omission of Bengali language from official use, including coins, stamps and recruitment tests for the navy. The movement restated the demand that Bengali be declared an official language of the Dominion of Pakistan. Political leaders such as Shamsul Huq,
Shawkat Ali,
Kazi Golam Mahboob,
Oli Ahad,
Abdul Wahed and others were arrested during the rallies. Rally leader
Mohammad Toaha was hospitalised after attempting to snatch a rifle from a police officer. Student leaders, including
Abdul Matin and
Abdul Malek Ukil took part in the procession.[dead link]
In the afternoon of 11 March, a meeting was held to protest police brutality and arrests. A group of students marching towards the chief minister
Khawaja Nazimuddin's house was stopped in front of the
Dhaka High Court. The rally changed its direction and moved in the direction of the Secretariat building. Police attacked the procession injuring several students and leaders, including
A. K. Fazlul Huq.
[18] Continuing strikes were observed the following four days. Under such circumstances, the chief minister Nazimuddin signed an accord with the student leaders agreeing to some of the terms and conditions, without complying to the demand that Bengali be made a state language.
[8]
In the height of civic unrest,
Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on 19 March 1948. On 21 March, at a civic reception at
Racecourse Ground, he claimed that the language issue was designed by a "
fifth column" to divide Pakistani Muslims.
[19][20][21][22][23] Jinnah further declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language,
[8][21][24][25] labelling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan". Jinnah delivered a similar speech at
Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on 24 March.
[9] At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience. He later called a meeting of a state language committee of action, and overruled the contract that was signed by Khawaja Nazimuddin with the student leaders.
[18] Before Jinnah left Dhaka on 28 March, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy.
[26]
In 27 November 1948,
Ghulam Azam on behalf of Dhaka University Students’ Union gave a memorandum to Pakistan's Prime Minister Liakat Ali Khan at Dhaka University asking that Bangla be the national language for Pakistan.
[27] At the time, Ghulam Azam held the position of the General Secretary of Dhaka University Students’ Union.
[27]
Shortly thereafter, the East Bengal Language Committee, presided by
Maulana Akram Khan, was formed by the East Bengal government to prepare a report on the language problem.
[28] The Committee completed its report on 6 December 1950, but it was not published until 1958. The government suggested that Bengali be written in
Arabic script, as a potential solution to the language conflict.
[29]
Events of 1952[edit]
In 1952, Bengali students in
East Pakistan rose up and protested against the Pakistani government for declaring Urdu as the national language. Majority of the Pakistani citizens (as of 1952), about 54% of the citizens, were
Bengali. In the protest several students died for defending the
Bengali language for themselves and for the future generations.
Procession march held on 4 February 1952 at Nawabpur Road, Dhaka.
The Urdu-Bengali controversy was reignited when Jinnah's successor, governor-general
Khawaja Nazimuddin, staunchly defended the "Urdu-only" policy in a speech on 27 January 1952.
[18] On 31 January, the
Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod(All-Party Central Language Action Committee) was formed in a meeting at the Bar Library Hall of the University of Dhaka, chaired by
Maulana Bhashani.
[8][30] The central government's proposal of writing the Bengali language in
Arabic script was vehemently opposed at the meeting. The action committee called for an all out protest on 21 February, including strikes and rallies.
[18] Students of the University of Dhaka and other institutions gathered on the university premises on 4 February and warned the government to withdraw its proposal to write Bengali in Arabic script, and insisted on the recognition of Bengali. As preparation for demonstrations was going on, the government imposed
Section 144 in Dhaka, thereby banning any gatherings of more than three people.
21 February[edit]
Meeting on the University of Dhaka premises on 21 February 1952
At nine o'clock in the morning, students began gathering on the University of Dhaka premises in defiance of Section 144. The university vice-chancellor and other officials were present as armed police surrounded the campus. By a quarter past eleven, students gathered at the university gate and attempted to break the police line. Police fired
tear gas shells towards the gate to warn the students.
[8] A section of students ran into the Dhaka Medical College while others rallied towards the university premises cordoned by the police. The vice-chancellor asked police to stop firing and ordered the students to leave the area. However, the police arrested several students for violating section 144 as they attempted to leave. Enraged by the arrests, the students met around the
East Bengal Legislative Assembly and blocked the legislators' way, asking them to present their insistence at the assembly. When a group of students sought to storm into the building, police opened fire and killed a number of students, including
Abdus Salam,
Rafiq Uddin Ahmed,
Abul Barkat and
Abdul Jabbar.
[8][31] As the news of the killings spread, disorder erupted across the city. Shops, offices and public transport were shut down and a general strike began.
[24] At the assembly, six legislators including Manoranjan Dhar, Boshontokumar Das, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Dhirendranath Datta requested that chief minister
Nurul Amin visit wounded students in hospital and that the assembly be adjourned as a sign of mourning.
[32] This motion was supported by some of the treasury bench members including
Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Shorfuddin Ahmed, Shamsuddin Ahmed Khondokar and Mosihuddin Ahmed.
[32] However Nurul Amin refused the requests.
[8][32]
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