A few days ago, International Mother Language Day was celebrated in my univarsity literally. The celebration was observed for two consecutive days. At first there was a poster presentation of different countries regarding their language. In 21st February an early-morning procession was held towards the martyr’s monument which is called “Provat-Ferri”. Students from different countries and teachers from USA joined the procession wholeheartdly. They walked for over an hour to reach that place while some Bengalis were sleeping in their respective dormitories peacefully.
However, the most magnificent thing was the flower to show our respect was offered by the hand of a Bangladeshi and a Pakistani student. It should be mentioned that they know the background histroy very well of this day and they are sorrowful for that. It showed in the cultural programme too which was held on the following day. One of our Pakistani friend recited a poem written by herself which was too heart touching. In the poem she mentioned all the oppression that paki soldiers did with us in 1952 and 1971. She apologized for all those oppression and pronounced the words of peace and mutuality. All of us were so touched with her words that we stood up and gave a round of applause. Students from different countries also performed on the programme. The programme started with a chorus of “Amar vai er roktey rangano…” sung by Bengali students. The Indian students did a fabulous performance presenting all the ethnicity of their country. In addition, the performances of Nepalese, Bhutanese, Srilankans, Combodians, Burmese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Afganis were also mind-blowing. Finally, two Bangladeshi students performed a dance on various Bengali song, such as– “moder gorob moder asha……”, “Ami banglai gaan gai…” and “Ekti Bangladesh…….”. One Bangladeshi student sang “Amai gethey dao na ma go…………” in a soothing voice.
The programme ended up by thanking all the audience and performers. The celebration created a new enthusiasm and boosted up the patriotism in the students. By the way, I can also take some credit as I and one of the seniors worked hard for several days to decorate the stage background and the venue……. 😉 
fmoriam 