BANGLADESH

The biggest exhibition of Bangladesh's software industry, BASIS SOFTEXPO-2012, is set to start on Wednesday.

To be held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, the exhibition will remain open from 10am to 8pm every day until Feb 26.

A total of 140 local and foreign companies will participate in the event, convenor of the exhibition's organising committee, Tamzid Siddique, said at a media conference on Saturday.

Tamzid, also joint secretary-general of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), organisers of the event, said more than 80 seminars, technical sessions, open sessions and business matchmaking presentations will be held during the fair.

The expo will have seven zones: business software, outsourcing, mobile application, cloud and communication, IT-enabled services, IT education and e-commerce.

This year, more than 100 new IT inventions will be displayed as part of the exhibition, Tamzid said. Code Warriors' Challenge, IT Innovation Search Programme, Job Fair, BASIS Freelancer of the year award and the gala award night would be the highlights of Soft Expo, he added.

The entry fee has been set at Tk 50. There will be no entry fees for students.

BASIS is organising the expo since 2003.

A group of people has attacked a function organised to mark the 'Amar Ekushey' – the Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day – at Sakhipur in the district.

They chanted 'Naraye Takbir' [shout out loud] during the attack made when a dance competition was in progress at the function on Dak Bungalow premises on Tuesday evening.

Prof Aleem Mahmud, convenor of the cultural sub-committee of the programme organising committee, told : "30-40 people attack all of a sudden chanting Naraye Takbir."

"They vandalised chairs, loudspeakers and sound boxes," he added.

A discussion, poetry recitation, and music and dance competition were organised marking the Amar Ekushey.

Sakhipur upazila chairman Shawkat Shikder, also ruling Awami League's upazila unit committee general secretary, said the police have been asked to take action against the people responsible for the incident.

Sakhipur police station inspector (investigation) Mizanur Rahman told journalists that preparation was on to file a case in this connection.

A witness, preferring anonymity, said a group of people saying the Maghrib prayer at a nearby mosque got infuriated due to the use of 'disturbing' loudspeakers, and hence, the attack.

SHAHEED MINAR VANDALISED

A Jamaat-e-Islami leader allegedly vandalised a makeshift Shaheed Minar at Patharghata in Barguna on Monday evening.

Witnesses said local youths built the Shaheed Minar at the playground of a madrasah at Patharghata to pay homage to the language martyred.

But superintendent of the madrasah and local Jamaat-e-Islami leader Gazi Shahadat Hossain vandalised it.

The Shaheed Minar was, however, rebuilt with the help of at police in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Transport workers in eight districts under Rajshahi division enforced a 72-hour strike on Wednesday morning to demand that authorities end extortion by police, issue appointment letters to the workers and ease licence renewal conditions.

They have been demanding those for months but the authorities' reluctance to pay heed to their eight-point charter of demand has forced them to stop running vehicles, said Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Shramik Federation's Rajshahi division president Abdul Latif Mandal.

He said their demands had not been met despite repeated assurances from the authorities.

"For this, the 72-hour strike has been enforced from Wednesday," he told .

No buses were seen leaving the central terminal in the division headquarters on Wednesday.

Transport workers of Jaipurhat, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Pabna and Sirajganj have expressed solidarity with the protest, he said.

The strike put passengers in grave trouble. Many were seen waiting at the bus station on Wednesday.

Bogra's deputy commissioner Sarowar Mahmud, police superintendent Humayun Kabir and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) assistant director Gias Uddin on Tuesday sat with the transport workers' federation and other workers' platforms in an attempt to convince them to call off the planned strike but failed.

"We had sat with the government and the local administration a few times with our demands but all went in vain. We had no choice but to go on with the strike," Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Shramik Federation's Rajshahi divisional committee general secretary Kamal Hossain Robi said.

With the clock striking a minute past Monday midnight, the nation started paying homage to the martyrs of the historic Language Movement of 1952 to mark 'Amar Ekushey' – the Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day.

President Zillur Rahman led the nation in paying tributes to the martyrs by placing wreath at the altar of Central Shaheed Minar at 00:01am Tuesday, followed closely by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina, along with cabinet members, her advisors, lawmakers and party leaders, also placed wreath on behalf of her party. Thereafter, deputy speaker Shawkat Ali paid tribute on behalf of Parliament.

BNP chairperson and leader of opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia placed wreaths along with the party's acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other leaders around 20 minutes after midnight.

Chiefs of the three services, the attorney general, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of UN organisations, and Dhaka University vice-chancellor Prof Dr A A M S Arefin Siddique also paid their tributes to the martyrs.

Various political parties and their front organisations as well as numerous socio-cultural organisations continued paying homage to the language martyrs by placing wreaths all through the day.

MORNING OF EKUSH

In the morning, chief justice Mohammad Muzammel Hossain placed wreaths at the altar of Shaheed Minar, followed by members of Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission.

Ruma Azad, a resident of Lalbagh, brought her son Toufiq-ul-Islam Siam, a nursery student, to show him the traditional programmes of Ekush.

"He (Siam) will be able to discover his identity by seeing this," Ruma said. She said they would return home after visiting the Amar Ekushey Book Fair at Bangla Academy.

"I offered flower at the school; now I've come here. I feel happy," little Siam said.

Dhaka University student Romana Akter, meanwhile, said she found more people in the morning on Tuesday than the last few years.

"I stood in a line in front of S M Hall at 7am but could place a flower only at 1pm," she said.

Besides law enforcement agencies, members of Bangladesh National Cadet Corps and Rover Scouts were at work at the venue to maintain order in the area.

MESSAGES

President Zillur in his message recalled with profound reverence the unfading memories of the language martyrs, namely Barkat, Rafiq, Salam, Jabbar, Shafique and many others unknown, who made the supreme sacrifice in 1952, and prayed to the Almighty for the salvation of the departed souls.

"The great language movement is a historical and significant event in our national history. This movement not only achieved the demand of mother tongue but also revealed the sense of Bangalee nationalism and inspired tremendously to achieve independence. This spirit of Bangalee nationalism paved the way for the long-cherished independence in 1971."

He also recalled with deep respect Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and then member of Legislative Assembly Dhirendra Nath Dutta, whose undaunted courage and indomitable inspiration finally helped Bangalee achieve the status of mother tongue.

"Language movement inspires us to protect and bring up our own language and heritage as well as reminds us to oppose all injustice and unfairness. Therefore, the 21st Feb not only inspires the growth of our own language, literature and culture, but also encourages to preserve and promote the language and cultures of various nations around the world," he added.

Prime minister Hasina in her message extended her best wishes to the Bangla-speaking people at home and abroad, and people of all languages and cultures across the world on the occasion of the glorious International Mother Language Day.

"The greatest Ekushey is the symbol of grief, strength and glory in the life of every Bangalee. On this day in 1952, many valiant sons of the soil, including Rafiq, Shafique, Jabbar, Barkat, Shafiuddin and Salam, sacrificed their lives for protecting the dignity of the mother tongue."

"I pay my highest respect to the memories of the martyrs. I also pay homage to the greatest Bangalee of all times, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who steered the language movement." She also recalled with great reverence contributions of all other language veterans.

She said that the International Mother Language Day is now a source of inspiration for all the people of the world in establishing the truth and justice. She said she has already placed the demand in the UNGA to make Bangla, spoken by 250 million people of the world, as one of the official languages of the UN.

Hasina further said the government established International Mother Language Institute for carrying out research on all languages of the world and preserving those. An International Mother Language Institute Act has also been enacted.

"The greatest Ekushey is the symbol of our democratic values, Bangalee nationalism, spirit of liberation struggle and secularism. We have made good progress towards realisation of the pledges made to build a modern digital Bangladesh free from hunger, poverty, terrorism, communalism and illiteracy in the last three years' journey of our government."

The prime minister urged the countrymen to make a fresh vow to work together to improve the lot of the people sinking all differences.

BACKGROUND

On Feb 21, 1952, students at Dhaka University took to the street in protest against the then government's denial of Bangla as the national language and imposition of Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan.

Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar and a few other brave sons of the soil were killed in a police firing on this day in 1952 when students moved out in a procession from the Dhaka University campus, breaching Section 144, demanding recognition of Bangla as a state language of the then Pakistan.

The Pakistan government was ultimately compelled to incorporate an article in the constitution on Feb 29 in 1956 that declared "the state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bengali".

The protest sparked on Feb 21, 1952 culminated into the long-drawn struggle that eventually led to the birth of independent Bangladesh in 1971.

On Nov 17 in 1999, the UNESCO declared Feb 21 as the International Mother Language Day. Since then countries across the globe observe the day to promote linguistic diversity and multilingual education, and raise awareness about cultural traditions based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.