ABOUT SHAHEED MINAR &
INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY

　　　　There are six thousand languages in the world.　However, half of them will be extinct within the next 50 years. Due to globalization with some countries overwhelmingly dominating the rest of the world, there is a growing concern that 95% of world languages may not survive until the next century. However, languages are the most powerful instruments for preserving and developing the tangible and intangible heritage of human civilization. On this context, the 30th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 1999, participated and unanimously agreed upon by 188 countries, declared February 21 to be the International Mother Language Day.

　　　　February 21 is a very significant national day of Bangladesh. On this day in 1952, a number of people lost their lives at Dhaka city, trying to protect their mother language Bangla, through a movement known as the language movement. Shaheed Minar is the monument built first at Dhaka later on at many other places , to commemorate the martyrs of the language movement in Bangladesh. After the 1999 UNESCO declaration of February 21 to be the International Mother Language Day, Shaheed Minar became the International symbol of love to mother language.

　　　　The Tokyo Shaheed Minar, bulit at the Ikebukuro West Exit Park, was a present from the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the City of Toshima, in the year 2005. It symbolizes the cultural exchange between Toshima and Bangladesh, which started with Boishakhi Mela (Bangladesh New Year Festival). This festival is organized every year in mid April, by Japan Bangladesh Society (JBS) at Ikebukuro West Exit Park, since the year 2000. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space is also located in this park. Tokyo Shaheed Minar as depicted above, has a central part, which represents language as the mother and four figures around it, symbolizing children protecting the mother

JAPAN BANGLADESH SOCIETY HAS UNDERTAKEN A CAMPAIGN SO THAT THE INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY (FEBRUARY 21) IS RECOGNIZED AS A NATIONAL DAY IN JAPAN AS WELL AS OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD