International Mother Language Day is a global observance held on February 21 every year to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. The day was first proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 to commemorate the Bangladesh Language Movement, which took place on February 21, 1952, when university students and political activists demonstrated for the recognition of the Bengali language as one of the two national languages of Pakistan.
During the demonstration, several students were killed by police while protesting for the right to speak their mother tongue, which at that time was being suppressed by the Pakistani government in favor of Urdu. This incident led to the creation of an independent Bangladesh in 1971, and the day is now celebrated worldwide as a day of respect for linguistic and cultural diversity, and to promote the importance of preserving and promoting mother languages. The theme of International Mother Language Day 2022 is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society”.