Bangladesh—My Bangladesh- Part Three.

June 21, 2012 GM Noyon Extra Feature, Write-up, 0

It is true that, Bangladesh is a small country in area, but certainly not in respect of population. At present (in 2012), there live a population of people of 160 million in this country of 88% Muslims, and 12% Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. However, Hindus form the second largest minority community of this country. But there is a complete religious, cultural and political freedom, understanding and harmony among all of these four communities of people of Bangladesh.

Officially the country is a people’s republic. Its official name is The People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Of 160 million total population, 130 million is the Muslims, 27 million is the Hindus, 02 million is the Buddhists and 01 million is the Christians. All the people but the tribal Buddhists of the districts of Khagrachhori, Rangamati, Bandorbon and the nine Police Stations of the Garo Hills region of the districts of Sherpore and Jamalpore, speak BANGLA, because, it is the vernacular of the 99% people of Bangladesh. Not only this, BANGLA is also the official language of Bangladesh, but English is also taught and learned widely as a lingua franca, and is widely used in speaking and writing, particularly for higher education in all the modern faculties of education and learning, experimental and research works of Science and Technology and also for maintaining a smooth and functional international relations. BANGLA is spoken, written and used by a total population of nearly 280 million people all over the world. Besides our Bangladesh, the 78,000- square kilometer Poschim Bangla State’s 90 million people of India, the 12,000- square kilometer Tripura State’s 03 million people of India plus the 28% people (04 million people) of the State of Assam of India, 05 million people of Pakistan and an approximate population of 18 million BANGLA speaking people scattered all over the world particularly in the countries of the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Britain, France, Canada, and the USA etc speak, write and use BANGLA as their mother tongue. So, we can boast rapturously that, our BANGLA language and culture is one of the richest languages and cultures in the world. It is the 08th richest language in the world. It is also one of the languages of the United Nations Organization, in which all the UN news bulletins are published and circulated. We the Bangladeshis are the only people in the history of the world, who have sacrificed their lives for upholding the prestige, place, importance, honour and cultural values of our dear mother tongue BANGLA, by engaging ourselves in a protracted political battle with the autocratic and tyrannical regimes of Pakistan. In this battle of honouring the mother tongue BANGLA, our valiant sons of the soil, Salam, Zabbar, Borkot, Rofiq, Shofiq and several other unknown ones embraced martyrdom at the hands of the brute Pakistani Police and Paramilitary Forces on the 21st February, 1952. It is an irony for the Pakistanis that, that 21st February is now the International Mother Language Day. His Excellency Mr. Kofi Anan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, has been pleased to accept the language tragedy of BANGLA of the 21st February of 1952, and declare the 21st February as the International Mother Language Day, since 1999. A hearty homage spontaneously goes to this great son of Ghana of Africa as well as to Her Excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hassina’s Government of Bangladesh, for their epic and marvelous job of establishing the 21st February as the International Mother Language Day.