Bangla Language Day, popularly known as Ekushe (21) February, is one of the most significant days, not in Bangladesh only, but in human history because on that day the valiant Bangalee boys gave their lives to defend their sweet mother tongue, Bangla language. Over the centuries people gave their lives for love, faith, freedom, nation and the state. But on 21 February 1952, ever in history, a bunch of young Bangalee students gave their lives in a protest rally at the Dhaka university campus against the Pakistani authority’s attempt to impose Urdu (as the state language of Pakistan) over the 70 million Bangalees of East Bangla (then East Pakistan).

21 February 1952

Bengal was absorbed into the Mughul Empire in the 16th century, and Dhaka, the seat of a nawab (the representative of the emperor), gained some importance as a provincial center. But it remained remote and thus a difficult to govern region--especially the section east of the Brahmaputra River--outside the mainstream of Mughul politics.

"One day in June, we cordoned a village and were ordered to kill the Kafirs in that area. We found all the village women reciting from the Holy Quran, and the men holding special congregational prayers seeking God’s mercy. But they were unlucky. Our commanding officer ordered us not to waste any time.”

The atrocities of the razakars in killing the Bengalis equaled those of their Pakistani masters. An excerpt from an article written in the Azad, dated January 15, 1972, underscores the inhuman atrocities of the Pakistani troops and their associates, the razakar and al-Badr forces...

List of students of Jagannath Hall, Dhaka University, Killed by Pakistani army

Sathkhira No of torture cells: 1. Star Diamond Hotel torture cell 2. Mahmudpur at Alipur 3. Benerpota 4.Patkelghat at Tala 5. Bakal 6. Jhaudanga Star Diamond Hotel torture cell (now the Pubali Bank building) Key perpetrators: 1. Major Abdullahel Baki 2. Major Khaled Mukit 3. major Khaleq 4.Zummon Shaokat 5. Gafur People killed: 1. Roknuz Zaman 2. Kabir Ahmed Ansar 3. Khalilur Rahman 4. Nazrul Islam (Dhulihar) Martyred Freedom Fighters: Nazrul Abedin Khoka, Samsuz Zoha Kajol, Sheikh Harunur rashid, Safed Ali

List of people killed: 1. Mohd Hafiz Uddin 2. Baidya Nath Pal 3. Ranjan Pal 4. Bimal Pal 5. Nur Mohammad 6. Sohrab Uddin 7. Zakaria 8. Master Abu Taher 9. Master Khagendranath Ghosh 10. Rajkumar Ghgosh 11. Kalim Mallik Majumdar 12. Ajihar Rahman Names of Perpetrators: 1. Abul Kashem (chair-Peace Committee) 2. Syed Ershad Hossain 3. Majed Ali Khan 4. Doc Abdur Rahman 5. Hajji Abu Taleb 6. Nurul Huq 8. Shahadat Hossain 9. Forman 10. A Rahman Khan 11. Shamchhur Rahman Hamidi 12. Kaochhar Ali

KARACHI, March 25: The East Pakistan tragedy was not just a failure of the military establishment of the day but also the abysmal collapse of civil society in West Pakistan. Launched at midnight, 25 March 1971, the military action went on for nine long months without eliciting any concerted protest from the West Pakistani public and political leadership.