Acting Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and former member of Parliament Professor Mujibur Rahman has issued the following statement on 20th February 2024 urging the countrymen to observe International Mother Language and Martyrs Day on 21st February by holding discussion and special prayer programs.

International Mother Language and Martyrs Day is going to be observed on 21st February. In 1952, the youth, students, and other communities launched a movement in order to establish Bangla as the official state language. To suppress that movement, the law enforcement agencies of Pakistan opened fire against the agitating students. Several including the students of Dhaka University were killed on that day. The people of the country humbly remember them for their highest sacrifice. I am praying to Allah seeking their salvation.

21st February has attained recognition as International Mother Language Day. It is a global recognition to the language martyrs. Bangla language has to be protected and preserved from cultural aggression and it has to be established at all stages and spheres of the country. Only then, the dreams of the language martyrs will be fulfilled.

The countrymen are going to observe the day in such a period when a one-party rule has been established in the country by holding a farcical election. The nation is crying for democracy, rule of law, human rights, voting rights, and freedom of expression. Public lives and properties are not secured. The government’s tyrannical faces are being exposed at all levels. We have to protect our nation from this suffocating situation and through a united movement.

I am urging all the wings and front organizations of Jamaat-e-Islami and my fellow countrymen to observe International Mother Language and Martyrs Day on 21st February by holding discussion and special prayer programs.”