Deutsche Welle Persian – February 21, 2018
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| International Mother Language Day Conference University of Maragheh, East Azerbaijan Province February 2017 |
February 21st is International Mother Language Day. This designation is the result of the struggle of the people of Bangladesh to defend their mother tongue. In Iran, various events are also held on this occasion.
International Mother Language Day is particularly important and historical for nations and ethnic groups whose languages are not recognized in their country and are prevented from being taught.
The history of International Mother Language Day goes back to February 21, 1952. On this day, students from various universities in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, protested against the ban on education in their mother tongue. The protest was met with a harsh police response, resulting in the deaths of several demonstrators.
The protesters demanded that Bengali be recognized as the second official language of Pakistan (alongside Urdu).
The Bangladeshis did not give up their struggle, and eventually, after seven years, their protests led to the independence of the country from Pakistan. Every year, a memorial event is held in Bangladesh on this day. Shortly afterward, at the request of Bangladesh, UNESCO officially designated February 21st as International Mother Language Day on November 17, 1999.
Since 2000, this day has been celebrated in most countries, with programs held to mark it. Due to the significance of this issue, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Languages.
Koichiro Matsuura, then Director-General of UNESCO, in his message on this occasion, urged governments: "To include programs in their official and non-formal education systems and administrative affairs that ensure balanced and fruitful coexistence of the languages within each country."
The message from UNESCO was mainly addressed to those countries with diverse ethnic groups speaking different languages.
Mother Languages in Iran
Iran is a country with linguistic diversity, but none of these languages are officially recognized alongside Persian. International Mother Language Day provides an opportunity for many activists in Iran to advocate for the recognition and preservation of their mother tongues.
On International Mother Language Day, many activists from ethnic groups in Iran have for years been gathering petitions and organizing conferences and speeches to raise awareness among their fellow Iranians about this issue affecting a significant portion of the population.
For the first time in Iran, International Mother Language Day was celebrated on February 21, 2004, at the University of Science and Industry in Tehran, organized by Turkish students from universities in Tehran. The main topic of the speeches and poetry readings at the event was the necessity of teaching in mother tongues in the multi-ethnic country of Iran. Simultaneously, an event was held in Tabriz at the "Dr. Mobin" Hall to commemorate the day.
In the following years, these celebrations continued.
The link to the original article in Farsi on DW Persian:
روز جهانی زبان مادری از بنگلادش تا ایران