Dhaka: Bangladesh on Sunday paid rich tributes to the 1952 Language Movement heroes with thousands thronging a monument erected in memory of the martyrs, considered to have sown the seeds of independence 58 years ago.
President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offered the wreaths at the memorial at one minute past midnight yesterday while streams of barefooted people representing different social and political organisations and in individual capacity followed them in queues with flowers until midday today.
The language movement is seen as the landmark for the growth of nationalist campaign which eventually resulted in the emergence of independent Bangladesh after nine months of Liberation war in 1971 with crucial Indian support.
The United Nations in 1990s declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day recognising their sacrifices for the mother tongue as a number of people were killed in police shootouts as they took to the street after the then rulers in erstwhile Pakistan declined to acknowledge Bangladesh as a state language despite being the language of the majority population.
In 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared "Ekushey February" as International Mother Language Day.
Sheikh Hasina yesterday conferred 15 distinguished people with the prestigious Ekushey Padak for 2010 for their outstanding contribution to art and culture, literature, education, journalism, research, fine arts, social work and the 1952 language movement.
PTI
