GOPIKA

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Bangalore
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INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY

International mother language day is promulgated worldwide on 21 st of February in order to honor one’s
mother tongue. It was officially recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in the year 2002. It
highlights the significance of cultural multiplicity and the need to create widespread awareness about it.
The day is celebrated in light of a proposal to conserve and stimulate languages spoken around in the
world. Every year International Mother Language Day is celebrated with a theme. The theme selected
for the year 2021 was “fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society”.

The initiative to dedicate a day to celebrate mother language originated in Bangladesh. It pays homage
to the movement made by Bangladeshis to preserve their language. Back in 1947, Pakistan was
segregated into Eastern Pakistan (present Bangladesh) and Western Pakistan. The government at the
time decided to declare Urdu as the official language although Bengali was spoken by majority of the
population. This led to unrest and people from Eastern Pakistan where Bangla was primarily spoken
demanded that their mother tongue also be officially recognized. Eventually, a large number of rallies
and protests were held by the people to support their cause. This revolt went down as a colossal
moment in history as it was first of its kind where lives were sacrificed to preserve one’s own mother
tongue. Hence, International Mother Language Day became a national holiday in Bangladesh and is
remembered with melancholy.

Understanding one’s own mother tongue is of utmost importance as it brings you close to your
community and makes you a part of it. A large number of people grow up not knowing their mother
tongue owing to various reasons such as not having access to education in their native language, living in
a country that has no association with their respective mother language etc. This brings into the light the
imperativeness to celebrate World Mother Language Day. Undertaking various activities to foster the
need to be acclimated with one’s own native language can go long way in helping to create a sustainable
future.

World Mother Language day is commemorated in certain parts of the world in different ways. In the
United States, Mother Tongue Film Festival is being held since 2017 and is aligned with Mother
Language Day. The film festival screens movies from languages that are spoken by minority of the
population. This can be considered as great initiative to bring languages that are unknown to many into
the forefront. As discussed earlier World Mother Language Day is considered a public holiday in
Bangladesh. They celebrate the day by honoring the legacy of those who sacrificed their lives to support
their cause. They also organize various events and social gatherings.

In a country like India, that is so rich in culture and language, 21 nd February should be considered an
important day. Observing this day should become a normal tradition in our country. We have 22
officially recognized languages, approximately 300 minor languages and 3000 dialects. For a country
with such diversity in their language, it is surprising to see that World Mother Language Day is not given
much importance. To quash this issue there are certain initiatives that can be taken up. This day should
become a regular celebratory event in majority of the colleges, schools and other educational
institutions. Students should also be given the opportunity to learn their native language especially for
the one’s from foreign countries. Holding various programs through television and radio stations can
also go a long way in creating an impact. Live programs and concerts can be held with artists from
different communities performing songs in their mother tongue. Create blogs, posts, hashtags, and
content with respect to this day and creating consciousness about its history, existence, importance etc.
Social gatherings in allotted public places can be organized in order to acknowledge the day and to
spend it in proximity with people speaking different languages. Conducting events such as book review
of publications written in an individual’s mother tongue, poem or story reciting in public libraries is also
a good idea.

Stimulation of language and diversity is directly attributed to the development of a society. Mahatma
Gandhi once said that imposition of foreign medium has made the youngsters of the country strangers
to their own land. Mother tongue is a fragment of a person’s roots and culture. Hence, it becomes an
indispensable part of our community and therefore and we should do everything in our power to
preserve and protect our mother language.