The Bangladesh Student Association hosted their first tribute to International Mother Language Day at USC on Friday. The club has put on events to recognize this special day before, but this was the largest one they have done yet, and the first time it was hosted at USC and open to all.
The day was originally introduced by the United Nations on February 21, 2000, in honor of the martyrs of Bangladesh who died on that day in 1952 fighting for their right to speak in their native tongue.
In March of 1948, the leader of Pakistan declared that Urdu would be the only language that could be spoken in Pakistan. In protest, students of Dhaka University organized a strike on February 21, 1952, and the police, retaliating against the protesters, fired into the crowd killing several demonstrators. This sparked a nationwide movement, and in 1954 Bangla was recognized as an official language of Pakistan.
The event was divided into two segments, with a traditional meal from Bangladesh served in between. In the first segment, a group of students sang songs and read poems in Bangla, including "Amar bhaiyer rokte rangano, (How can I forget the 21st of February)" which was written about the shootings that occurred during the strike, and during which a group of men dressed in traditional garments, came up on stage and placed flowers at the foot of a reproduction of the Shaheed Minar, the monument constructed at the place of the shootings, to honor those who died for the movement. The meal was then served, featuring traditional food from the region, followed by the second segment, which included songs, poems and dances in a variety of languages and from cultures around the world.