Dhaka: This country, which became independent under the leadership of Bangabandhu Mujib ur Rehman, now chants Jinnah’s name. Things have become such that Bangladesh is again on the way to become East Pakistan under Yunus’s leadership. Is East Pakistan, which separated from Pakistan for its language and culture and became Bangladesh, is on the way to become East Pakistan again? This doubt arises from the Mother Language Day celebrated on 21 February. It was a very dull day, even a program to pay tribute to the martyrs who built Bangladesh. Not only this, tribute programs given to those martyrs in many countries including Dhaka were also completely monotonous. The question is whether the rebellion against imposing Urdu as an official language in place of Bengali in East Pakistan took the form of a revolution. Thousands of people sacrificed their lives for this.
Last year, large scale condolence programs were organized in Dhaka on Jinnah’s death anniversary. At that time poems were sung in Urdu, ghazals were sung and speeches were given in praise of Jinnah. Now the matter has moved forward. It has been recommended that Urdu be taught in government schools. Not only this, all the references of Sheikh Mujib ur Rehman have been removed from the textbooks.
Every year on Mother Language Day, at 12 o’clock at night, the President and Prime Minister pay tribute to the martyrs, but this time the tradition of Prime Minister was vacant. The extremists demolished the historic martyr memorial pillar in Komila on Mother Language Day. Those who paid tribute to the martyrs were stopped at other places.
Usually both countries celebrate this day together on the border. But this time it did not happen. This reflects India’s symbolic opposition.
No program was organized at Bangladesh Consulate in Kolkata on 21 February (Mother Language Day). It is now clear that the gap between India and Bangladesh has increased.
