Report by Zulfiqar Halepoto, zhalepoto@yahoo.com
Sindhi Adabi Sangat is organizing a conference on “Mother tongue Day” on February 21st, 2009 at Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium, Opposite PMA Hostel Karachi @ 4 pm sharp. Prominent linguists and writers will share their papers.
History of Mother tongue Day– Bangladesh was governed by Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. As a consequence, Urdu was the only recognized language. Bangla, the language of the Bengalis, was forbidden. During a protest demonstration by students in Dhaka on 21 February 1952, the Pakistani police killed four people. Since then, Rafiq, Barkat, Jabbar, and Selam have become ‘Martyrs of the Mother Tongue’, and the Bengalis celebrate ‘Language Martyrs Day’ on 21 February.
