Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday urged the people to build a
knowledge-based, prosperous, peaceful and secular country, free from war
criminals and razakar. She made the appeal while distributing the ‘Ekushey Padak 2013’ among 13 recipients at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital.
The recipients of Ekushey Padak 2013 are MA Wadud (posthumous), Prof Ajit Kumar Guha (posthumous), Principal M Quamruzzaman (posthumous) and Tofazzal Hossain for Language Movement; Enamul Haque Mostafa Shahid for Liberation War; Nurjahan Murshid (posthumous) and Samson H Chowdhury
(posthumous) for Social Services; Rafiq Azad and Asad Chowdhury for Language and Literature; Kaderi Kibria, Jamaluddin Hossain, Bijoy Krishna Adhikari (posthumous) and Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Goshti for art and culture.
Hasina said Ekushey February has become the symbol of Bengali nationalism, secularism and non-communal spirit, and called upon all to remain conscious in upholding the spirit of immortal Ekushey.
“Those who deny the spirit of language movement and Liberation War are the enemies of immortal Ekushey and independence,” she added.
The premier said the language movement was not merely to protect the language rather it was a movement to protect Bengali nationalism and self-identity of the Bengali nation.
Describing the Bengali as a nation with fighting spirit and courageous, she said the immortal Ekushey “sharpened the fighting spirit and taught us to stand against any injustice in society.”
“Bangla Language is the protection shield for the Bengali nation, a source of inspiration and unity, and the medium of learning. Without mother language, no real learning is possible,” he said.
Hasina said that with the initiatives of some expatriate Bangladeshis living in Canada and all out support of her government, the UNESCO declared Ekushey (21st February) as the International Mother Language Day, which facilitated the rights of mother tongue of all small ethnic groups in 193 UN member countries across globe.
Recalling the invaluable contribution of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the language movement, she said that in 1974, Bangabandhu first delivered his address in the UN General Assembly in Bangla to portray Bangla language and culture to the international community.
Following the footprint of Bangabandhu, the prime minister said she also has been addressing the UN General Assembly in Bangla every year since her previous term.
Iterating firm resolve to uphold the dignity of the mother languages, she said her government established the International Mother Language Institute to carry out research works on mother languages of other nations and ethnic minority groups and for their preservation and development.
Besides, she said that her government is also pursuing its efforts to make Bangla as one of the official languages of the United Nations and made the demand in her speech at the UN General Assembly session.
Hasina said the present government ensured the use of Bangla in information technology making mandatory complete Bangla keypad in all mobile handsets and is going to introduce new Bengali font ‘Amar Barnamala’.
The government has taken the initiative to introduce ‘Dot Bangla’ as second country-coded top level domain and a policy authority would be constituted in this regard, she said.
Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad also spoke on the occasion while Cabinet secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan conducted the program.
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