Bangladesh missions in D.C, Paris, Vienna, Singapore observe Ekushey

Bangladesh missions in Washington D.C, Vienna, Paris and Singapore City have also observed 'Ekushey February' and the International Mother Language Day on Tuesday.

According to messages received here today, Bangladesh embassies in the major international cities observed the day in due fervor and highlighted the importance of mother languages in political, social, cultural, economic and development contexts in modern world.

Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC not only observed the day but also urged the United Nations (UN) to make 'Bangla' as one of its official languages. It also urged the UNESCO to take all out measures to protect and preserve Bangla, a language of more than 250 million people around the world.

The day's programme began paying glowing tributes to the language heroes who made supreme sacrifice to establish Bangla as the state language of erstwhile Pakistan in 1952.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the U.S.A Mohammad Ziauddin placed wreaths at the altar of Shaheed Minar on the embassy premises. Embassy officials, staff, family members and expatriate Bangladeshi also joined him.

Ziauddin in his remarks said mother language was the most natural means to assert one's identity. He said the dissemination of mother languages encourages linguistic diversity and multilingual education throughout the world.

"In fact, respect for each other's language, inspires international solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue," he added.

Referring to the UNESCO's proclamation of the International Mother Language Day and the acknowledgement of the Day in its "Culture of Peace" resolution in 2008, he said Bangladesh as the pioneer of the resolution has a sacred obligation not only to protect Bangla but also other languages.

Later, cultural troupes from Afghanistan, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Guyana and Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Mexico, Peru and Bosnia presented songs and dances.

Diplomats from different embassies, political leaders, journalists, representatives of social and cultural bodies and expatriate Bangladeshi attended the function.

Bangladesh Embassy in Paris commemorated the 'Shaheed Dibosh' and International Mother Language Day-2017 too. Identical programme was also organised at the UNESCO Headquarters with Bangladeshi community in France participating.

The programme began at 7:30am in the morning with the hoisting of the national flag at half-mast at the Chancery premise. A make-shift Shaheed Minar was erected on the Embassy premise where expatriate Bangladeshi and the embassy officials placed floral wreaths.

These were followed by recitation from holy books and observance of one minute silence showing respect to all the martyrs of the Language Movement in 1952. Messages given by President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as well as the Foreign Minister and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs were read out.

A good number of expatriate Bangladeshis, including freedom fighters, politicians, media personalities, socio-cultural activists and other community members, attended the Embassy event. Bangladesh Ambassador to France M. Shahidul Islam led the event.

UNESCO, in collaboration with the Permanent Delegate of Bangladesh and International Organization of Francophone (OIF) organized a seminar titled "Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education" in Paris.

Director General of UNESCO Ms. Irina Bokova appreciated the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and termed Bangladesh as "a champion partner of UNESCO' in the celebration of the International Mother Language Day.

She mentioned that Bangladesh-UNESCO collaboration led to the establishment of the International Mother Language Institute as a UNESCO category 2 Centre in Dhaka. She also appreciated Jaago Foundation, an NGO from Bangladesh, which received the UNESCO-King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize 2016 for its pioneering role for using ICT in education.

A number of Bangladeshi socio-cultural and political organizations based in Paris also held different programmes that include book fair, cultural events and placing of floral wreaths at temporary Shaheed Minars.

In Singapore, Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day was observed with due solemnity at Bangladesh High Commission premises. The programme was attended by over 300 guests and their families.

Source: BSS