DHAKA: .Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day will be observed from the first minute of Saturday with paying tribute to the language movement martyrs who fought and died on February 21 in 1952 to make mother tongue Bangla a state language

The whole country is going to observe the 63rd Martyrs’ Day to commemorate the Language Movement martyrs through various programs.

In the first hour of the day, President M Abdul Hamid will pay homage to language movement martyrs placing floral wreaths at the central Shaheed Minar in the capital a minute after midnight past Friday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also ruling Awami League president, will place wreaths along with her cabinet and party colleagues.

They will stand there in silence for a minute in honor of the language heroes.

The Central Shaheed Minar and its adjacent areas on Dhaka University campus got a different look with street paintings and hanging Bangla alphabets from branches of trees and pasting on walls.

February 21, the day has also been observed simultaneously as International Mother Language Day since 2000 after UNESCO announced the decision in November 1999.

People from all walks of life will place wreaths at Shaheed Minars singing the chorus ‘Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano Ekushey February, Ami ki Bhulite Pari’, stand in solemn silence for a while.

On this day in 1952, students and people from all strata of society took to the streets in Dhaka to protest the then Pakistan government’s refusal to recognize Bangla as one of the state languages and its attempt to impose Urdu as the only official language of Pakistan.

Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Shafiur, Jabbar and a few other brave sons of the soil sacrificed their lives to establish Bangla as a state language of the then Pakistan.

The day is a public holiday. The national flag will fly at half-mast at all government, autonomous and private buildings.

Different socio-political and cultural organizations have chalked out various programs, including seminars and cultural functions, to observe the Amar (immortal) Ekushey and International Mother Language Day in a befitting manner.

The different newspapers publish special supplements marking the day and radio and television channels are air special programs on the occasion.

The security measures were beefed up in the central Shaheed Minar area. Moreover, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will control traffic at several points surrounding Dhaka University area starting from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon to help people pay respect at Central Shaheed Minar.

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said traffic from 7:00pm on Friday to 2:00pm Saturday on all entry points to Dhaka University area will be controlled.

Road directions and maps to Shaheed Minar were hooked in several places of the adjacent areas as well.

BDST: 1850 HRS, FEB 20, 2015