Remembering Mother Language Day Poem by Rajkumar Mukherjee

Remembering Mother Language Day


night long go along
silent procession
‘recognise my mother tongue’
is the cry within each soul
that guards all our hope

the black turmac
is overflowed with blood
blood of my brothers
cleanse the roads
with showers of thousand bullets

still the procession moves on
touch of blood galvanises
their stubbornness

before the dawn they learn
language is their mother
as is the country
and the bondage can’t be broken

who knew then
the martyrs of twentieth
brought such glory to the nation
that glow of Mother Language Day
21st February, flows all over



rajkumar@kolkata
21-02-2010
@RajkumarMukherjee



Note: - In Bangladesh, February 21 is the anniversary of a pivotal day in the country's history. People lay flowers at a Shaheed Minar (martyr's monument) . They also: purchase glass bangles for themselves or female relatives; eat a festive meal and organize parties; and award prizes or host literary competitions. It is a time to celebrate Bangladesh’s culture and the Bengali language.
These tensions were apparent in 1948 when Pakistan's government declared that Urdu was the sole national language. This sparked protests amongst the Bengali-speaking majority in East Pakistan. The government outlawed the protests but on February 21,1952, students at the University of Dhaka and other activists organized a protest. Later that day, the police opened fire at the demonstrators and killed four students. These students' deaths in fighting for the right to use their mother language are now remembered on International Mother Language Day.
On November 17,1999, UNESCO proclaimed February 21 to be International Mother Language Day and it was first observed on February 21,2000. Each year the celebrations around International Mother Language Day concentrate on a particular theme.
Rajkumar (Ref-Google)