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On 21 February 1952, students in the present day capital city of Dhaka called for a provincial strike. All they wanted was the right to talk in their language, the language of their motherland. The Pakistani police fired on the students despite these peaceful protests and a number of students were killed, among them were Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat, and Abdul Jabbar.
Earlier that time, on March 1948, Pakistan's Governor general Mohammed Ali Jinnah declared that Urdu would be the only official language for both West and East Pakistan. But people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), having a mother language Bangla, started to protest against this.
The incident on 21st February 1952, raise a nation that they are not afraid to die to protect their language, their alphabet that they learn from their mothers. Back in 1971, Bangladesh got independence, following a night month long liberation war, where 3 million people killed in the hand of Pakistani army, one of the biggest genocide in history that was ever recorder.
On November 1999, UNESCO's declaration of 21st February as the International Mother Language Day has brought fresh glory and prestige to Bangladesh which is making significant strides towards peace, progress and prosperity around the world.