On 21 February 2020, UNESCO and the Permanent Delegation of Bangladesh organized a series of programs at the UNESCO Headquarters, for the celebration of the International Mother Language Day. Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Deputy Director-General for Education, opened the event.
Roundtable discussions were held in the morning, in the afternoon exhibitions, cultural programs and an international food festival awaited those who were interested. Hungary also presented itself at the exhibition. The Hungarian alphabet and the lyrics of the song “Spring Wind Floods Water” were displayed on a roll up. Several national choirs (Norwegian, Japanese, Kazakh, etc.) and famous musicians (Freddie Mercury, Guns n’ Roses) performed this very song, thus emphasizing the cross-border nature of music and language.
In Pakistan, in 1952, Urdu was declared being the only official language. At the time Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan, where Bengali was the official language, so they began to protest. In Dhaka, on the 21 February 1952, the police killed five protesters. Since, in Bangladesh, this day has been celebrated as the day of the Bengali language movement. To commemorate the event, at the suggestion of Bangladesh, the 21 February was declared as International Mother Language Day and was first celebrated in 2000.
