Editing Bengali language movement (section)

{{Short description|1948–1956 political movement in East Pakistan}}
{{About|the movement in Bangladesh|the movements in India|Bengali language movements in India}}
{{Featured article}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Bengali language movement
| subtitle = 
| partof = [[Independence of Bangladesh]]
| image = 1952 Bengali Language movement.jpg
| caption = Procession march held on 21 February 1952 in [[Dhaka]]
| date = 1948 – 1956
| place = [[East Pakistan]], [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]] (present-day [[Bangladesh]])
| coordinates = 
| causes = Decision of the [[central government of Pakistan]] and the [[government of East Bengal]] to make [[Urdu]] the only state language
| methods = *[[Political demonstration]]
*[[Strike action]]
| status = 
| result = *Declaration of [[Bengali language|Bengali]] as the official state language of Pakistan along with Urdu in 1956
*Losing majority of [[Muslim League (Pakistan)|Muslim League]] in [[East Bengal Legislative Assembly]] in 1954
| side1 = *[[Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad|State Language Action Committee]]
*[[Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod|All-Parties Central State Language Action Committee]]
*[[Tamaddun Majlish|Pakistan Tamaddun Majlish]]
*[[East Pakistan Renaissance Society]]
*[[Dhaka University Central Student's Union]]
*Students of [[Dhaka University]]
*[[Bengalis|Bengali]] civilians
| side2 = * {{flagdeco|Pakistan}} [[Government of Pakistan]]
** {{flagicon|Pakistan|army}} [[Pakistan Army]]
* [[Government of East Pakistan]]
** [[Pakistan Police]]
* [[Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh|Bihari people]]
* [[Muslim League (Pakistan)|Muslim League]]
| side3 = 
| leadfigures1 = Collective leadership
| leadfigures2 = * {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Liaquat Ali Khan]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Sir Ghulam Muhammad]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Iskander Mirza]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Fazlur Rahman (politician)|Fazlur Rahman]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Nurul Amin]]
| leadfigures3 = 
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| injuries = 
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| arrests = 
| damage = 
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| effect = 
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| side4 = 
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}}
{{Culture of Bangladesh}}
{{History of Bangladesh}}

The '''Bengali language movement'''{{efn|{{langx|bn|বাংলা ভাষা আন্দোলন|Bangla bhasha andōlon}}{{IPA|bn|ˈbaŋlaˑ ˈbʱaʃaˑ ˈand̪olɔn|pron}}}} was a political movement in [[East Bengal]]{{efn|Renamed [[East Pakistan]] in 1955. East Bengal was the administrative division of the [[Dominion of Pakistan]] corresponding to today's Bangladesh from 1947 to 1955.}} (modern-day [[Bangladesh]]) 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 alphabet]] and [[Bengali script]].

When the Dominion of Pakistan was formed after the separation of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, when the British left, it was composed of various ethnic and linguistic groups, with the geographically non-contiguous [[East Bengal]] province having a mainly [[ethnicity|ethnic]] [[Bengali people|Bengali]] population. In 1948, the [[Governor-General of Pakistan|Government of the Dominion of Pakistan]] ordained as part of [[Islamization]] of [[East Pakistan]] or [[East Bengal]] that [[Urdu]] will be the sole federal language, alternately Bengali writing in the [[Perso-Arabic script]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nag |first1=Sajal |title=Nation and Its Modes of Oppressions in South Asia |date=30 December 2022 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-000-81044-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJGZEAAAQBAJ&q=bengali+in+arabic+script |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Maloney |first1=Clarence |title=Language and Civilization Change in South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=[[Brill Archive]] |isbn=978-90-04-05741-8 |pages=145, 146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_oUAAAAIAAJ&dq=bengali+in+arabic+script&pg=PA145 |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ES"/> or [[Roman script]] ([[Romanisation of Bengali]])<ref name="ES">{{cite book |editor1-last=হোসেন |editor1-first=সেলিনা |editor2-last=বিশ্বাস |editor2-first=সুকুমার |editor3-last=চৌধুরী |editor3-first=শফিকুর রহমান |title=1513. একুশের স্মারকগ্রন্থ' ৮৬ - সম্পাদনায় |date=21 February 1986 |publisher=[[Bangla Academy (Bangladesh)|Bangla Academy]] |location=[[Bangladesh]] |pages=52–73 |url=https://online.fliphtml5.com/lzrut/mjxv/#p=69 |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=bn}}</ref> or [[Arabic]] as the state language of the whole of Pakistan was also proposed,<ref name="বা">{{cite news |last1=প্রিনস |first1=এরশাদুল আলম |script-title=bn:বাংলা হরফের ওপর শয়তানি আছর |url=https://banglanews24.com/opinion/news/bd/555426.details |access-date=3 January 2017 |work=[[banglanews24.com]] |date=20 February 2022|language=bn}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael Edward |last2=Ganguly |first2=Sumit |title=Fighting Words: Language Policy and Ethnic Relations in Asia |date=2003 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-52333-2 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcoDezu1ABoC&dq=arabic+state+language+pakistan&pg=PA77 |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Zein |first1=Subhan |last2=Coady |first2=Maria R. |title=Early Language Learning Policy in the 21st Century: An International Perspective |date=22 September 2021 |publisher=[[Springer Nature]] |isbn=978-3-030-76251-3 |page=136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmpEEAAAQBAJ&dq=arabic+state+language+pakistan&pg=PA136 |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chaube |first1=Shibani Kinkar |title=The Idea of Nation and Its Future in India |date=26 October 2016 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-315-41432-4 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CElDwAAQBAJ&dq=arabic+state+language+pakistan&pg=PA122 |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ES"/> sparking extensive protests among the [[Bengali language|Bengali-speaking]] majority of [[East Bengal]]. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the [[University of Dhaka]] and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956.

The Language Movement catalysed the assertion of Bengali national identity in East Bengal and later East Pakistan, and became a forerunner to Bengali nationalist movements, including the [[6 Point Movement|6-Point Movement]] and subsequently the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] and the [[Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain, 1987|Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987]]. In Bangladesh, 21 February (''Ekushey February'') is observed as [[Language Movement Day]], a national holiday. The [[Shaheed Minar, Dhaka|Shaheed Minar]] monument was constructed near Dhaka Medical College in memory of the movement and its victims. On 17 September 1999, [[UNESCO]] declared 21 February as [[International Mother Language Day]],<ref>Glassie, Henry and Mahmud, Feroz.2008.Living Traditions. Cultural Survey of Bangladesh Series-II. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Dhaka. International Mother Language Day</ref> in tribute to the Language Movement and the ethnolinguistic rights of people around the world.