The nation is paying deep respects to the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement, marking 'Amar Ekushey', the Language Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day. The great Language Movement, a significant event in the nation’s history, was aimed at establishing the right of the mother tongue as well as protecting self-entity, and culture and heritage. President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tribute to the martyrs of the Language Movement marking ‘Amar Ekushey’ -- the International Mother Language Day and Shaheed Dibosh. On behalf of the President Abdul Hamid, his Military Secretary Major General SM Salahuddin Islam paid the homage by placing a wreath at the Central Shaheed Minar at one minute past midnight. On behalf of the Prime Minister, her Military Secretary Major General Naquib Ahmed Chowdhury paid the homage by placing a wreath at the Central Shahid Minar in Dhaka at one minute past midnight. Walking barefoot to the Central Shaheed Minar with wreaths and flowers singing 'Amar bhaiyer rakte rangano Ekushey February', people from all walks of life are paying rich tributes to the heroes of the Language Movement who laid down their lives for achieving the recognition of Bangla as the state language of erstwhile Pakistan. On February 21, 1952, students and the common people in Dhaka took to the streets in protest against the then Pakistani government's denial of Bangla as the national language and imposition of Urdu as the only official language of Pakistan. Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar and a few other brave sons of the soil were killed in police firings on this day in 1952 when students came out in a procession from the Dhaka University campus breaching section 144 to press home their demand for the recognition of Bangla as a state language of then Pakistan. Being a source of ceaseless inspiration, ‘Amar Ekushey’ inspired and encouraged the nation to a great extent to achieve the right to self-determination and struggle for freedom and the Liberation War.

BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Monday alleged that the government has ‘ruined’ the spirit of Amar Ekushey just ‘to stay in power by force’.