The Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad (National Language Action Committee) was an organisation founded by Bengali politicians and intellectuals to agitate for the recognition of the Bengali language by the Government of Pakistan. It was established on 1 October 1947 by Nurul Bhuiyan. It became one of the most influential groups during the Bengali Language Movement.
Tamaddun Majlish catalyzed the foundation of the first Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad. It was founded at the end of December in 1947. Founding convener of the committee was Nurul Huq Bhuiyan. Other founding members were Shamsul Alam, Abul Khaer, Abdul Wahed Choudhury and Oli Ahad. Later the committee was expanded as Mohammad Toaha and Syed Nazrul Islam joined in. According to first convener Bhuiyan, all the activities of the committee were kept in secret during that time. [1]
In January 1948, Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad organized a meeting with Art and Science faculty of Dhaka University to give Bengali more exposure within the country. The meeting proposed to start Bengali as the medium of education from the primary level. [2]
The Language Movement Day, officially called the Martyrs' Day, is a national holiday of Bangladesh taking place on 21 February each year and commemorating the Bengali language movement and its martyrs. On this day, people visit Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the movement's martyrs and arrange seminars discussing and promoting Bengali as the state language of Bangladesh.
The Bengali language movement was a political movement in former East Bengal in 1952, advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as a co-lingua franca of the then-Dominion of Pakistan to allow its use in government affairs, the continuation of its use as a medium of education, its use in media, currency and stamps, and to maintain its writing in the Bengali script.
The Shaheed Minar is a national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate those killed during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952 in then East Pakistan.
The Bangla Academy is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in Bangladesh. It is an autonomous institution funded by the Government of Bangladesh that fosters the Bengali language, literature and culture, works to develop and implement national language policy and conducts original research in Bengali. Established in 1955, it is located in the Burdwan House in Shahbagh, Dhaka, within the grounds of the University of Dhaka and Suhrawardy Udyan. The Bangla Academy hosts the annual Ekushey Book Fair.
Ghulam Azam was a Bangladeshi politician. He was once the Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the oldest and the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh.
Shawkat Ali was a politician and a leader of the Bengali Language Movement. He was one of the founders of Awami Muslim League - which later became the Awami League and is now the Bangladesh Awami League. He was a member of all three Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad. He was also the Chief Organizer of the Dhaka City Awami League during the 1950s. His house in 150, Chawk Moghultuly, Dhaka was the center for many activities and meetings during the Language Movement. He died of a stroke on August 18, 1975. He is buried in Jurain graveyard in Dhaka.
Abul Kalam Shamsuddin was a journalist, politician and littérateur. He was born at Trishal of Mymensingh.
Khandakar Abdur Rashid, better known as Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish was a Bangladeshi politician and Islamic scholar. His career spans from the anti-colonial independence movement to the establishment of both Pakistan and Bangladesh. Tarkabagish was the second president of the All Pakistan Awami Muslim League, and served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and later the Parliament of Bangladesh. Despite being a member of the treasury bench, he opposed what he considered to be the repressive mentality of the Nurul Amin government towards the Bengali Language Movement.
Abdul Matin was a language activist of the Bengali Language Movement that took place in the erstwhile East Pakistan to make Bengali one of the state language of Pakistan. He was one of the student leaders and organizers of the movement. His contribution to the movement has been hailed by the other activists and students as he was popularly known as Bhasha Matin.
The Tamaddun Majlish, formerly Pakistan Tamaddun Majlish, is an Islamic cultural organization in Bangladesh, established in 1947 by Principal Abul Kashem in the former East Pakistan. It was one of the founding organizations of the Bengali Language Movement.
There were not many political parties at the time of Bengali Language Movement. The Bengali Language Movement was a political movement in former East Bengal advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language. There was Muslim League, who were at the treasury bench. The movement was mainly supported by Awami League, National Congress and East Pakistan Communist Party.
Mohammad Abul Kashem is generally considered as a pioneer and the architect of the historic Language Movement of Bangladesh. He was also a politician, author and an eminent educationist. He founded the Islamic-oriented Bengali cultural organisation Tamaddun Majlish.
Nurul Haque Bhuiyan was a Bengali activist.
The Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod was the leading political organisation in the Bengali Language Movement of East Bengal.
Dhaka Commerce College is a master's level college in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1989, it was the first college in Dhaka city to specialize in business studies. Students receive education both in Bangla and English mediums. The main founder of this college is considered Kazi Nurul Islam Faruky.
Abdul Gafur was a Bangladeshi journalist, teacher, writer and language activist of the Bengali Language Movement that took place in the erstwhile East Pakistan to make Bengali one of the state languages of Pakistan. He was one of the noted members of Tamaddun Majlish, an Islamic cultural organization which played a vital role at the start of the movement.
Nurul Haq Nur is a Bangladeshi activist and politician. currently the 1st President of Gono Odhikar Parishad. He came to prominence in 2018 as a joint-convener of Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad, which led the Quota Reform Movement 2018. In 2019, he was elected as the vice president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU). He is also the convener of the Chatro, Jubo and Probashi Odhikar Porishod.
Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq is a Bangladeshi writer, essayist, translator, critic, columnist and activist. He is a former professor of Bengali language and literature at the University of Dhaka. He is the convener of Rashtrabhasha Bangla Rokkha Komiti. He received Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1981.
Golam Moula was a Pakistani-Bengali medical doctor, politician and political organizer. He was elected a member of the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly in the by-elections of 1956 and a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1962. At that time he was the whip of the opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly.
Khan Sahib Syed Muhammad Afzal was a Bengali politician. He served as a member of both the Bengal Legislative Council and the Bengal Legislative Assembly. Afzal was noted an early supporter of the Bengali language movement.