February 21st marked Bangladeshi national language day. At first this may sound like another one of those nationally declared homage days that you only know about if you read the small print on a Hallmark calendar but here in Bangladesh it is a very special, very symbolic day. Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan (which was formerly India and at one time under British rule) gained its Independence from Pakistan in 1971. The fight for liberation started with the fight for a people's mother tongue. When Pakistan declared Urdu the national language, Bengalis protested insisting that they be able officially to speak, learn and communicate in Bangla. This fight led to blood shed and many lost their lives in the name of the Bangla language. Therefore, annually people bow their heads and lay flowers at the foot of the monuments or Shaheed Minars that pay tribute to the blood lost for Bangla the language, Bengalis the people and Bangladesh the nation.
This year we were fortunate enough to participate in the midnight ceremony at the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College where administrators, professors, doctors, nurses, students and clerical workers all silently walked in demarcated groups to the red and white sculpture, removed their shoes and lay wreathes of orange, yellow red and white flowers. It was a short, succinct, simple ceremony. On the way home, a sense of peace and hope hung in the air.
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