Language Martyr's Day

I know I left Dhaka when I was four and have only gone back a handful of times but I still like to commemorate Bangladesh's holidays and events. I guess I take a lot of pride in it because:

1. I taught myself how to read and write Bangla using old Bangali newspapers and books when I was ten. Because of this, I can't recite the names of the letters; I just know what sounds they make. Also because of this- I am a pathetically slow reader in Bangali.
2. It amazes me that these men and women were willing to die for a language. About twenty years later they fought to retain their cultural identities, and eventually, for the right to even exist in the first place. But a language...I can't imagine.

You may notice that I spell Bengali "Bangali." Well first of all, Bangali refers to the people or something that pertains to Bangladeshi culture. If you're referring to the langauge, that's just "Bangla." "Bengali" is the British pronunciation and no Bangali will ever say that. If they try, it sounds like "Bengolee" and that is just weird. Unless you go to Calcutta because I'm pretty sure they say "Bengolee" all the time.

Today is "Ekushey February" (21 February):

• The Pakistani government declared Urdu as the national language (it would be taught and spoken in all schools, institutions, etc. and Bangla wouldn't be recognized).
• Dozens of unarmed civilians (students and activists) were killed on February 21, 1952 when Pakistani police fired upon them for gathering near Dhaka Medical College to protest the decision.
• After several years, Bangla was finally allowed to be "spoken" (that is, until everything else goes down in 1971), and the Shaheed Minar monument was built to remember the language martyrs.

"The monument stood until the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, when it was demolished completely during Operation Searchlight, during which the Pakistani Army estimates they inflicted 26,000 civilian deaths, while other organizations such as National Geographic estimate casualties numbering over 3 million. After Bangladesh gained independence, it was rebuilt." (from wiki)

Also, February 21st is International Mother Language Day as observed by UNESCO, and it "took effect on 17 November 1999 when it unanimously adopted a draft resolution submitted by Bangladesh and co-sponsored and supported by 28 other countries." (wiki)

Snce this is mostly a writing blog, here are the most famous lyrics ever written about 21 February:

Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February
(My Brother's Blood is Stained on the Twenty-First of February)

Can I forget the twenty-first of February
stained by the blood of my brother?
The twenty-first of February, built by the tears
of a hundred mothers robbed of their sons,
Can I ever forget it?
Wake up all serpents,
wake up all summer thunder-storms,
let the whole world rise up
in anger and protest, against the massacre of innocent children
They tried to crush the demand of the people
by murdering the golden sons of the land
Can they get away with it
at this hour when the times are poised
for a radical change?
No, no, no, no
In the history reddened by blood
the final verdict has been given already
by the twenty-first of February

Wake up today, the twenty-first of February
do wake, please!
Our heroic boys and girls still languish in the prisons of the tyrant
The souls of my martyred brothers still cry
But today everywhere the somnolent strength
of the people have begun to stir
and we shall set February ablaze
by the flame of our fierce anger
How can I ever forget the twenty-first of February?

-Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury