The Bengali Language Movement was a political movement in the then East Pakistan advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of the then East Pakistan.
The movement was the root of all the movements including the greatest Liberation War movement in 1971.
The movement helped Bengali nation realise that the freedom can not be achieved without any movement. So, people under the leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, started protesting against the autocratic Pakistan ruler in 1971. People joined the Liberation War for their freedom in 1971 and sacrificed their lives as they did in 1952 for Bengali language.
In 1948, the Government of the Dominion of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the 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 and subsequently the Bangladesh Liberation War.
