Protect dignity of Bangla: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday put utmost importance to greater practice and use of mother tongue Bangla as it is one of the world's richest languages earned through the sacrifice of blood.

"We had to shed blood to protect the dignity of our language. We have earned international recognition of this language which is a matter of pride. We must not forget the practice and the use of Bangla," she said while inaugurating a four-day-long Amar Ekushey programme arranged by International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) on the institute premises in the capital's Segunbagicha.

The prime minister said the Bangalee nation will have to maintain its tradition and everything it has in its culture.

Ekushey means not to bow down to anyone, she said. "Following the path of Ekushey, we attained our independence."

Hasina mentioned that to destroy a nation, conspirators always strike its culture, language and literature. "The Pakistani rulers did the same."

Greeting the Bangla-speaking people across the globe and other small linguistic groups on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day, the prime minister said the international recognition of February 21 is a matter of great pride for the people of Bangladesh who set an example of supreme sacrifice to protect the dignity of their mother language.

She paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the Language Movement and recalled the memories of the movement veterans as well as Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who also had played a significant role in organising the Language Movement in 1952.

The premier said her government established the IMLI in Dhaka, creating facilities for researchers from home and abroad to conduct their research on mother languages.

Secretary of the Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue and Official Languages of Sri Lanka WMPG Wickramasinghe presented the keynote paper at the programme with Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid in the chair.

State Minister for Technical and Madrasa Education Division Kazi Keramat Ali, IMLI Director General Prof Dr Jinnat Imtiaz Ali, Head and Representative of Unesco in Dhaka office Beatrice Kaldun and Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Sohrab Hossain also spoke on the occasion.

At the beginning of the discussion, a one-minute silence was observed as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the martyrs of the Language Movement.