International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 Multilingualism in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 16, 2007 in UN resolution 61/266, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages. The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh 21st February is the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for recognition for the Bangla language.
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal is a Bangladeshi science fiction author, physicist, academic and activist. He is a professor of computer science and engineering at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). As of January 2018, he is the head of Electrical and Electronic Engineering department.
Sheikh Mohammed Sultan (popularly known as S M Sultan; 10 August 1923 – 10 October 1994), was a Bengali decolonial artist who worked in painting and drawing. His fame rests on his striking depictions of exaggeratedly muscular Bangladeshi peasants engaged in the activities of their everyday lives.Sultan's early works were influenced by western technics and forms, particularly impressionism, however, in his later works particularly, works exhibited in 1976, we discover there is a constant temptation to decolonize his art technics and forms.
Syed Sultan was a medieval Bengali Muslim writer and epic poet. He is best known for his magnum opus, the Nabibangsha, which was one of the first translations of the Qisas Al-Anbiya into the Bengali language. His literary works have been included in the curriculum of school level, secondary, and higher secondary Bengali literature in Bangladesh. His origin is debated though most attribute his origin to Patiya in Chittagong. There are claims that he is the same person as a certain Syed Sultan from Taraf in Greater Sylhet, although this is highly unlikely due to the time periods.
Abdullah Al Muti Sharafuddin, mostly known as "Abdullah Al Muti" was a Bangladeshi educationist and science writer. He wrote tough scientific ideas in an easy fashion suitable for children and teenagers. He became first Bangladeshi writer to win the UNESCO Kalingo Prize in 1983. He had earned major national awards - Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1975, Ekushey Padak in 1985 and Independence Day Award in 1995.
Bangladesh Air Force Shaheen College, or BAF Shaheen College, is a privatised educational institution run by the Bangladesh Air Force in different airbases around Bangladesh. It has the largest primary, secondary and higher secondary student population in Bangladesh.
Abu Naser Muhammad Gaziul Haque was a language activist and an activist leader during the Bengali Language Movement.
Mohammad Sultan was a Bangladeshi politician and language activist of the Bengali Language Movement.
Mohammad Ataul Karim is a Bangladeshi American scientist and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with expertise in electro-optical systems, optical computing, and pattern recognition. His citation record has an h-index value of 30, g-index value of 59, and i10-index value of 99 and an RG score of 40.42 with over 4675 publications citing his research results. Karim is ranked amongst the top 50 researchers who contributed most to Applied Optics in its 50-year history. He was for 9 years the first Vice President for Research of Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia.
Anisuzzaman was a Bangladeshi academic of Bengali literature. He was an activist who took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969), and took part in the War of Liberation (1971). He was a member of the Planning Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh liberation war and a member of the National Education Commission set up by the government after liberation. He was inducted as a National Professor by the Government of Bangladesh in 2018.
Azad Rahman was a Bangladeshi composer. He received a gold medal in 2011 from Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata.
Rashed Rouf is a Bangladeshi novelist, editor and journalist. He was awarded the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2017. As of 2019, Rouf is an associate editor of Dainik Azadi, a Bengali-language daily newspaper.
Gazi Shamsur Rahman was a Bangladeshi lawyer, writer, translator, columnist and television personality. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 1985 and Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1983 by the Government of Bangladesh. He wrote over 77 books on law and language in English and Bengali language.
AllamaSultan Zauq Nadvi is a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and the founder of Jamia Darul Ma'arif Al-Islamia. He is known mainly for his expertise in and contribution to Arabic language and literature.
Allama Nurul Islam Olipuri is an eminent Islamic Scholar of Bangladesh. Allama Olipuri is mainly famous for his prominent interpretation of the Holy Qur'an.
Maulana Muhiuddin Khan (1935–2016) was an Islamic Scholar of Bangladesh and editor of Monthly Madina. Khan was also a Quranic commentator, journalist, poet, writer and translator. He translated for the first time tafseer Maariful Quran into Bengali.
Muhammad Ibrahim is a Bangladeshi academic. He is a former professor of physics at University of Dhaka. He is the moderator of the show Desh o Biggyan on Bangladesh Television. He is the editor of Bigyan Shamoiki, the first monthly science magazine of Bangladesh. Since January 2015, he has been serving as a professor of the General Education Department at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).
Biswajit Ghosh is a Bangladeshi professor, essayist and researcher. He is a professor of the Bangla Department at Dhaka University and Incumbent Vice-Chancellor of the Rabindra University. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2011 and Ekushey Padak in 2019 for his contributions in research.
Soundtek is a record label company from Bangladesh. The owner of the company is Sultan Mahmud.
Saymon Zakaria is a Bangladeshi folk researcher and assistant director of the folklore department in the Bangla Academy. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2020 for his contribution in Bangladeshi folklore.
