Abstract
Every 21st of February, countries around the world – including Pakistan – celebrate the International Mother Tongue Day. This holiday is a recognition of Bangladesh’s Shohid Dibôsh (Martyr Day) by UNESCO in 1999. Shohid Dibôsh is a celebration of the martyrs of the Bengali language movement in 1952, when Pakistani police open-fired on a protest injuring many and killing Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar. These four students were killed by the Pakistani police because they wanted Bengali to be recognised as a state language. While Bengali was finally officially recognised as a state language in 1956, this occurred at a high cost.
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Mahboob, A. (2023). International Mother Tongue Day: Has Pakistan Learnt Any Lessons?. In: Writings on Subaltern Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43710-6_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43710-6_14
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
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