MAGURA, Feb 21: Ahead the International Mother Language Day, the two Language veterans Khan Ziaul Huq and Aminul Islam Chandu Mian who are also intimate friends and residents of the same area in Magura town in a conversation with The Daily Observer recalled the memories of turbulent days of February 1952.
Apart from making this correspondent known about the police action against them during the Language Movement, their sacrifices to motivate and to organise the general students in joining the Language Movement, they also expressed their dissatisfaction and resentment as according to them, Language Movement heroes in Magura are yet to be paid due respect.
Language veteran Khan Ziaul Haque who is now about of 91 years while talking to this correspondent said, when movement was broken out in 1952, he was then only 23 years and as a candidate of the then student organisation Muslim Chhattra League was just elected vice-president (VP) of the then students union of MM College in Jessore.
"As I was elected VP of the students union as the candidate of Muslim Chhattra League, a pro-government students organisation; the then Muslim League leaders in Jessore directed me not to join the Language Movement", Ziaul said.
"But I was determined to keep myself engaged in the movement to establish the right of my mother-tongue, so I resigned from the organisation as well as from the post of VP", Ziaul added.
Language veterans Khan Ziaul Huq and Aminul Islam Chandu Mian were picked up by police along with some other demonstrators as they brought out a procession to protest police firing and torture on the procession of language soldiers in the then provincial capital city Dhaka on February 21.
Police picked them up when they brought out a procession on February 23, 1952 from Nomani maidan area and moved towards the Chourongi Square in Magura town, according to Ziaul and Chandu Mian. Police; they were freed after several hours, they said.
Aminul Islam Chandu Mian was a student leader of Magura and also a skilled footballer. His age was 23.
Chandu Mian said, although because of their glorious and heroic movement for language during the turbulent days of February 1952, February 21 has now been observed as the International Mother Language Day; Language Movement heroes in Magura have long been far from due respect.
Whereas, language veterans in Magura also contributed a lot for the sake of the dignity of their mother-language, he opined.
Expressing his great regret, leading language veteran, cultural personality and educationist in Magura Khan Ziaul Huq said, "No political or socio-cultural organisations here held any programme to pay tribute to the patriotic role of Language Movement soldiers, and most of them have already passed away with their heavy hearts".
"Whereas, it was essential at least to make aware our new generation about the contribution of language heroes so that they also might be dedicated to sacrifice in the face of such any national crisis", Ziaul continued.
Ziaul, however, expressed great satisfaction to see the biggest crowd that was organised several years back by the vigorous youths of the country that demanded capital punishment to the war criminals and said, "Now I think that none can stop our youths to build a country free from anti-liberation forces and militants as our new generation are wakeful".
Another language hero Aminul Islam Chandu Mian echoed the same sentiment and claimed, "Government should take fruitful and rapid initiative so that language heroes can get state-honour at least posthumously".
Chandu Mian also demanded government's initiative to make a genuine list of language heroes.
Though Language Movement was primarily launched from the then provincial capital city Dhaka, its wave rapidly touched the then sub-divisional headquarters of Magura like many other parts of the country, according to the language veterans.
At the very beginning of the Language Movement here, local student leaders along with general students of the then Islamic College (now the Government Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy College) embarked on the movement to establish 'Bengali' as the state-language, Chandu Mian said.
Afterwards, they took vigorous initiative to launch the movement even at remote areas of the then sub-division, he added.
Student leaders Nasirul Islam Abu Mian, Khan Ziaul Huq, Abdul Jalil Khan, Aminul Islam Chandu Mian, and Azim Dewan mainly led the language movement at the sub-divisional headquarters. Of these leaders Nasirul Islam Abu Mian and Abdul Jalil Khan have already passed away.
Meanwhile, a student leader from Iqbal hall of Dhaka University Mirza Shawkat Hossain came to Magura and held meetings at different educational institutions and played a key role to motivate and organise the general students in joining the Language Movement, Ziaul said.
Another student leader of Raicharan High School A.K.Hamiduzzaman Ehia with cooperation of the then headmaster of Sreepur High School Abdur Rahim Joarder began to organise the students of different institutions in the then Sreepur thana. At that time Abdus Salam, Abdur Rashed, Ali Ahmed and Jitendronath Ghosh, among others, assisted Ehia, he added.
