Foreign Secretary Md Jasim Uddin pays tribute to the Language Martyrs at Central Shaheed Minar today. After that, he delivered his speech at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on the occasion of Martyrs' Day and International Mother Language Day.
Following is the full text of his speech:
Government of Bangladesh
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Excellencies, Friends from Media
Dear colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Service Academy, Distinguished Guests Ladies and gentlemen—
Shuvo Sokal, Assalamu alaikum and a very good morning to you all.
On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I would like to thank you for joining us in this program of Martyrs' Day and International Mother Language Day 2025.
Let me begin by paying my deepest respect to all the heroic language martyrs and the language movement veterans.
Amar Ekushe February' (Immortal 21) is a historic and significant milestone in our national history. On this day in 1952, our brave souls, Rafiq, Salam, Jabbar, Barkat, Shofiur and many others shed their blood to establish the right to our mother tongue as well as to protect the self-identity, uniqueness and cultural heritage of the nation against the conspiracy of cultural exploitation.
The spirit of the 21st February later inspired all the national movements to achieve the right to self-determination and culminated in our great independence in 1971.
This day marks the silver jubilee celebration of the International Mother Language Day. I would also like to convey our gratitude to all individuals and entities at home and abroad who contributed towards the global recognition of this day as the ‘International Mother Language Day’ back in 1999.
Today we are also celebrating the linguistic diversity and multilingualism all over the planet that features more than 7,000 languages out there - with many languages disappearing along with their cultural and intellectual heritages.
We hope countries of the world will come forward to undertake necessary initiatives to protect such invaluable gems of human civilization from a one-way descent into a rather disheartening oblivion.
The theme selected for International Mother Language Day this year which is- “Make languages count for sustainable development”- can also be deemed relevant to the notion of intergenerational continuance of legacy and heritage as well as linguistic and cultural diversity.
This momentous day merits soul-searching and self-scrutiny alongside immense national pride to feel for. What more we can do for our mother tongue? I think there are several ways we can work in that regard.
First of all, if we look at our education system, particularly at the graduate and post-graduate level here- it is noteworthy that the availability of academic textbooks, columns and articles, journals, and multimedia content in our mother tongue Bangla is extremely rare in almost all of the disciplines.
I believe preparing a generation of youngsters skilled in application as well as tutoring advanced knowledge in any field of the greater academia is of high importance.
Secondly, with the fourth industrial revolution already in full swing worldwide, I think it is high time we invest more in high-end artificial intelligence software, OCR software search engines etc. in our mother tongue Bangla.
I understand similar necessity is prevalent in many of the post-colonial developing states as well. So… on this historic occasion… I expect all concerned in Bangladesh including policymakers, scholars, professionals and entrepreneurs will initiate more academic and technical endeavours to address these challenges and leave behind richer lingual legacies for our successors. Broadly speaking this is applicable for the entire global south.
The July-August 2024 revolution and the supreme sacrifices of the young people have provided a unique opportunity to establish equality and justice and to eliminate all forms of discrimination including cultural exploitation. I pay respect to them on this historic day for creating an opportunity for a better Bangladesh.
The current Interim Government led by Honorable Chief Advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus, remains committed to upholding these ideals by fostering national unity, ensuring equal opportunities, and respecting all linguistic and cultural identities.
The Interim Government is emphasizing promoting multilingualism, preserving endangered languages, and creating an environment where linguistic diversity is ensured.
This day brings forth an auspicious moment for all of us across the world to take a break and remember the known and unknown individuals in every culture, and every ethnicity living at every nook and corner of the globe who made contributions and sacrifices in countless ways and means striving to protect and uphold their cultures.
At the same time, irrespective of our national identities, we as members of a universal humankind, should remain forever indebted to those unsung heroes for the culturally diverse world we live in now.
In conformity with today’s theme, I would also like to underscore that to accomplish the daunting task of ensuring sustainable development for everyone, the urge to revert to traditional cultures, philosophies, and perspectives is increasingly gaining momentum among nations all over the world.
The very concepts of modernization, progress and prosperity are getting redefined rather drastically as well. In a changing reality like this, sharing knowledge, experience and innovations among nations, is crucial. To that end, the significance of global linguistic diversity as a shared reality is simply unquestionable.
I would like to conclude by recognising the diversity of language and culture in a way on display at today's event here in this Academy. I would like to thank all the participants in the cultural program who will showcase the cultural diversity that creates a mosaic of unity. I would also like to thank my colleagues who worked to organise this event.
Thank you once again for joining us here and helping us to make this whole effort a remarkable one.
I thank you all. Dhonnobad.
