Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Cllr Jahed Choudhury, Speaker of Council and Her Excellency Saida Muna Tasneem, High Commissioner for Bangladesh to the United Kingdom pay their respects
Community leaders, residents, and representatives of the Bangladesh High Commission were amongst those who gathered at Altab Ali Park earlier today (February 21) to mark The United Nations' (UN) International Mother Language Day.
The day, also known as Martyrs’ Day, is observed annually on 21 February across the world to promote and celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity.
In Tower Hamlets, the annual commemoration is hosted by Tower Hamlets Council in partnership with the Kendrio Shaheed Minar Committee (KSMC).
The date was chosen in recognition of the killing of four students in Bangladesh on 21 February 1952, during a campaign to officially use their mother language, Bengali. It has been a public holiday in Bangladesh since 1953.
The Shaheed Minar (‘Martyrs Monument’) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which commemorates those students, has a replica in Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel, which is the focus for public commemoration in Tower Hamlets.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning.”
According to the UN, mother tongue education supports learning, literacy, and the acquisition of additional languages
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Cllr Jahed Choudhury, Speaker of the Council, and Her Excellency Saida Muna Tasneem, High Commissioner for Bangladesh to the United Kingdom, laid wreaths at Shaheed Minar in Altab Ali Park.
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said:
“We are honoured to mark International Mother Language Day and remember those who made huge sacrifices for the recognition of their mother language. Tower Hamlets is a borough which embraces people from many different backgrounds. The theme of this year’s commemoration reminds us how important it is to promote linguistic diversity.”
Her Excellency Saida Muna Tasneem, High Commissioner for Bangladesh to the United Kingdom, said:
“21st February, the Amar Ekushey is a symbol of honour and glory in the history of the Bengali nation. On this day in 1952, fearless Bengali students made supreme sacrifices to realise the right to speak in their mother tongue Bangla as a State language. It is also a symbol of Bengali nationalism, Bangladesh's secular, progressive and inclusive values, and a key inspiration for our War of Liberation.”
“It is a privilege for me as High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the UK to join the Mayor of Tower Hamlets and the patriotic British Bangladeshi Diaspora at the Altab Ali Park Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the Bengali Language Martyrs of 1952 and its recognition at the UNESCO in
1999 as the International Mother Language Day by the diplomatic leadership of Bangladesh Prime Minister HE Sheikh Hasina.”
Nurul Islam, General Secretary of Kendrio Shaheed Minar Committee, said:
“I am pleased that we are able to mark International Mother Language Day 2024 and highlight the significance of the bold actions of the students who campaigned and were martyred in their fight to protect their language.”
Posted on Wednesday 21st February 2024