I am a Bangladeshi woman; Bangla is ingrained in my blood: Mithila

February 21st symbolises the sacrifices of the great martyrs who gave up their life for Bangla language. On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Rafiath Rashid Mithila, opens up to Hindustan Times Bangla, about how Bangla is ingrained deeply in her life.

"21 February is my own language day, the day I celebrate as a Bangali. It holds a great importance for me as many martyrs sacrificed their lives for the sake of our mother tongue. Bangla is not only a language to me; it's my identity. I am a proud Bangladeshi woman; Bangla is ingrained in my blood," said Mithila.

While reflecting upon the current generation, Mithila believes that most of the English medium students may not have grown up reading books about language movement but have heard about it through the stories by their parents.

"I really don't know how much these students can relate to this emotion. The world has changed and so has Bangladesh. However, both I and my daughter both talk about Bangla language and the history of language movement day. I really hope other parents also share the same principles and teach their children the importance of language," added the actress.

Rafiath Rashid Mithila has taken an initiative to help inspire the young generations to read more Bangla books.

"I have started writing story books in Bangla for the children aged between 4 to 8. There aren't any good books available for children in Bangla and thus I took the initiative to write books in it," added the actress.