M. H. Sohail The great language movement is an important part of our national life. The fearless students of this country sacrificed their lives for this language on February 21, 1952. Can we ever forget that? No, we can never forget this memorable language movement.
Today is the great 21st February Martyrs' Day and International Mother Language Day. This day is now being celebrated as International Mother Language Day not only by us, but all over the world. So we are proud of this language. We may not even know about all those who fought like fearless soldiers in that proud language movement. Not only in the capital where this movement was limited, but also in different parts of the country there was a movement about this language that day. So we have language soldiers even in remote areas of the country. But we may not know or keep track of them. But it is our moral duty to remember those who fought to establish our mother tongue. On this great day, we remember those language martyrs who are still alive all over our country.
At various times those unknown language soldiers are talked about. And so the government has recently decided on the matter. A list has also been prepared as per the directions of the High Court. Here is a list of living language fighters. It has been sent for publication in Gazette form. According to the list, the number of living language strugglers across the country is now 68. On February 19, the list was presented to the bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Farid Ahmed. Apart from this, the progress report on the implementation of the judgment regarding the protection of the sanctity and dignity of Shaheed Minar has been submitted to that court. The court directed to complete the construction of the language museum next to the central Shaheed Minar by January 31 next year. After submitting the progress report, the court considered the culture secretary and the works secretary exempted.
It should be noted that according to the list sent to the High Court, the living language fighters are - President Md. Zillur Rahman, Abdul Ghaffar Chowdhury, Abdul Matin, Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Oli Ahad, Roshan Ara Bachchu, Dr. Sharfuddin Ahmed, artist Imdad Hossain, artist Mortuza Bashir, Dr. Sufia Ahmed, Dr. Halima Khatun, International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu, Professor Rafiqul Islam, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit, Professor Anisuzzaman, Professor Azhar Roy, Ahmad Rafique, Borhan Uddin Khan Jahangir, Sanjeeda Khatun, Kamal Lohani, Saeed Haider, Debpriya Bara- Wow, Dr. Farooq Aziz Khan, M. Mujibul Haque, Syed Uddin Ahmad, Ziad Ali, Sameeruddin Ahmad, Tofazzal Hossain, Khaleda Fancy Khanam, Jahrat Ara Khanam, Bahauddin Chowdhury, Shilpi Aminul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain Akunji, Advocate Abdur Razzak, Abul Hossain, Saiful Islam ( Pabna), Ranesh Maitra (Pabna), Mumtaz Uddin Ahmed (Rajshahi), Nadera Begum, Pratibha Mutsuddi, Begum Chemonara, Abdul Ghafoor, Khodadad Khan, Nurul Haque Bhuiyan, Syed Fazle Ali, Abdul Latif, Motahar Hossain Sufi (Rangpur), Afzal Hossain (Rangpur), Karzon Ali (Gaibandha), Pranesh Samaddar (Dhaka), Dr. Ali Ashgar (Dhaka), Shah Tafazzal Hossain Pradhan (Dhaka), Shah Tabibur Rahman Pradhan (Rangpur), AKM Azhar Uddin (Barisal), Anisul Haque Payara (Rangpur), Nilufar Ahmad Doli (Rangpur, now in Dhaka), Roshan Jahan Hossain ( Dhaka), Roshan Ara Chowdhury (Dhaka), Dr. Jahanara Begum (Rajshahi, currently in Dhaka), Hasan Imam Tutul (Gaibandha), Shah Abdur Razzak (Rangpur), Dr. M Ismail (Dhaka), Chowdhury Harunur Rashid (Chittagong), AKM Rafiqullah Chowdhury (Chittagong), Professor Abul Kasem, Shahed Ali, Mumtaz Begum (Narayanganj) and Ekramul Haque (Rajshahi).
It is known that in view of a writ petition filed by the environmental and human rights organization Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh in the public interest, on August 25, 2010, the High Court gave an eight-point order to protect the sanctity and dignity of Shaheed Minar.
The 8 point instructions are:
1. To preserve the memory of the language movement, security measures should be taken to protect the sanctity of the Central Shaheed Minar and prevent any vagrants from roaming or doing anti-social activities in the area of the Central Shaheed Minar. The Ministry of Information was instructed to appoint three security guards to protect this safety and sanctity.
2. No meetings, marches, marches, death strikes or gatherings shall be held at the main altar of the central Shaheed Minar. However, there is no restriction on holding meetings at the foot of the altar. At the same time, three security personnel and three cleaners were ordered to be appointed to maintain cleanliness.
3. Order to give posthumous national medals to martyrs of language movement and national medals to living language soldiers.
4. Directed the government to provide financial assistance and medical care to the surviving language soldiers.
5. The construction and dignity of Shaheed Minar should be protected in all educational institutions including universities.
6. A library and language museum should be established next to the central Shaheed Minar. A bibliography (brochure) containing information about the language movement should be kept in this museum for the knowledge of local and foreign tourists.
7. Constitute a committee to prepare the actual list of language soldiers and publish the list in gazette form by January 31, 2012 and
8. Language soldiers should be invited to all state functions and government facilities should be ensured to them as far as possible. After giving this verdict, a committee headed by Professor Muntasir Mamun prepared a list of language soldiers, the concerned said.
On February 13, the secretary of the organization, Advocate Asaduzzaman Siddiqui, filed a contempt of court case for not implementing the judgment properly. On that day, the court summoned the cultural secretary. Besides, the Secretary of Works has been asked to submit a report to the court by February 16 by putting up two signboards as per the instructions to protect the dignity of Shaheed Minar. On February 19, the Culture Secretary and the Works Secretary submitted a report to the court.
In this regard, the petitioner's lawyer, Advocate Monzil Morsed, said that the Culture Secretary had appeared in court. Besides, the Culture Secretary and the Works Secretary have submitted the progress report on the implementation of the judgment in the court. According to the report, they have implemented several instructions including making a list of language activists, appointing security personnel, putting up signboards. However, the library and language museum were not constructed. In this context, the court has ordered to complete the construction of language museum by January 31 next year.
Even after a long time we may see the implementation of the judgments. We hope that by following the above instructions, we will be able to pay some respect to those who have sacrificed their lives for the country, the language of the people of the country and the mother tongue.
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