International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day
First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.
History[edit]
It was a social movement built on the spirit to defend the rights to write in one's mother language.
International Mother Language Day has been being observed since 2000[4] to promote peace and multilingualism. The date corresponds to the day in 1952 when students from the University of Dhaka, Jagannath College and Dhaka Medical College, demonstrating for the recognition of Bengali as one of the two national languages of East Pakistan, were brutally shot dead by police (then under Pakistan government) near the Dhaka High Court in the capital of present-day Bangladesh.
"Mother language" is the calque of a term used in several Romance languages — lengua materna (Spanish), lingua madre (Italian) and langue maternelle (French) — as well as the Sanskrit matribhasha and Tamil "thaimozhi". The more literal and more common English translation is "mother tongue", while "native language" has the same meaning and is also in common use. In linguistics, the English term "mother language" usually refers to an ancestral language, often a proto-language, relative to its descendent language family
International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999 (30C/62). On 16 May 2009 the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/61/266, called on its member states "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world".[5] In the resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages to promote unity in diversity and international understanding through multilingualism and multiculturalism. The resolution was suggested by Rafiqul Islam,a Bengali living in Vancouver, Canada. He wrote a letter to Mr. Kofi Anan on 9 January 1998 asking him to take a step for saving all the languages of the world from the possibility of extinction and to declare an International Mother Language Day. Rafiq proposed the date as 21 February on the pretext of 1952 killing in Dhaka on the occasion of Language Movement.
Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
— from the United Nations International Mother Language Day microsite
UNESCO chooses a theme for each International Mother Language Day, and sponsors related events at its Paris headquarters on or around 21 February each year. In 2008, the International Year of Languages formally began on International Mother Language Day.
People have shaped the way of celebrating International Mother Language Day.The celebration of the day among with the topic of multilingual diversity has inspired a number of international, national and provincial award ceremonies.
International observances[edit]
Outdoor ceremony, with girls in red-and-white costumes dancing
Dedication of the International Mother Language Day Monument in Ashfield Park, Sydney, 19 February 2006
UNESCO chooses a theme for each International Mother Language Day, and sponsors related events at its Paris headquarters on or around 21 February each year. In 2008, the International Year of Languages formally began on International Mother Language Day.
People have shaped the way of celebrating International Mother Language Day. The celebration of the day among with the topic of multilingual diversity has inspired a number of international, national and provincial award ceremonies.
Celebration of International Mother Language Day
In Bangladesh
Group of people laying down flowers at a replication of the Martyr's Monument
In respect of the language martyrs (see Language Movement Day) — the lion-hearted students Rafiq, Jabbar, Salam, Borkot and so on who died during a protest at the University of Dhaka on February 21, 1952 — the people in Bangladesh celebrate International Mother Language Day by laying down flowers to the Martyr's Monument (Shaheed Minar) and replications of that monument.
The people organize social gatherings, where they honor their language and culture, and hold literary competitions, draw Alpana on the roads, eat festive meals and listen to event themed songs, e.g. the "Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano" (translated: "Coloured in the blood of my brother").
Outside Bangladesh[edit]
International Mother Language Day is celebrated all over the world, including in Chile, Russia, Philippines, Egypt and Canada.
#Source-wikipedia
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