Linguistic rights movement is a historically significant and timeless chapter in the life of Bangladeshis. The primitive form of language is emotional speech sounds. The Bengali language that we speak has come about through gradual changes. Of course, the Bengali language that we speak has a long and bloody history of struggle behind it. Pakistan was born due to the hostile relations between Hindus and Muslims in the subcontinent during the British period. After the establishment of Pakistan, the East Bengal province was merged with Pakistan. As soon as the East Bengal province was merged with Pakistan, the Pakistani authorities abolished Bengali, the mother tongue of the Bengalis of East Bengal, and announced the establishment of Urdu as the official language. 

As a result, the Bengalis were angry and protested against this, but the Muslim League government of Pakistan tried to establish Urdu as the mandated official state language of Pakistan instead of Bengali in order to maintain the dominance of the West Pakistanis. The Bengalis started the language move-ment with the aim of protecting their mother tongue and establishing their own rights, and Bangladeshi nationalism was born in this movement.

Research Gap

To date, no book has been published that focuses on the development of the language rights movement and its connection to nationalism. While some books chronicling of Bangladesh have addressed aspects of the February movement, they have done so from a general perspective. In other words, none of the existing publications have specifically explored the development of Bangladeshi nationalism through the language movement. Recognizing this gap, I have written this article to emphasize the need for thorough research on the development of Bangladeshi nationalism through the language movement. I hope that this article will be a useful resource for future research on this topic.

Purpose of the Study 

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of Bengalis at different stages of the language movement. Ignoring the language policy imposed by the ruling class, Bengalis formed various organizations and participated in the movement. The participants in the movement included school, academic students and the progressive general public from different levels. Therefore, the purpose of writing this article is to analyze the participation of Bengalis in the language movement against the Pakistani government and how Bengali nationalism developed through it.

Dr. Md. Mahbubur Rahman has divided his book History of Bangladesh 1947-1971 into 10 chapters. The first chapter is the introduction, the second chapter is the federal government of Pakistan 1947-1958, the third chapter is the provincial East Bengal administration 1947-1958, the fourth chapter is the first military government of Pakistan 1958-1962, the fifth chapter is the politics of Pakistan, 1962-1966, the sixth chapter is the independence movement of Bangladesh 1966-1969, the seventh chapter is the election of 1970 and the emergence of independent Bangladesh, the eighth chapter is the nine months of the liberation war, the ninth chapter is an analysis of the reasons for the emergence of Bangladesh, and the tenth chapter is the history of various student organizations and political parties during the period 1947-1970. He has presented a brief chronicle of the language movement in the third chapter of his book from pages 86 to 101. Although he presented the history of the language movement, he did not discuss the development of Bengali nationalism through the language movement (Rahman, 2005).

Dr. Abu Md. Delwar Hossain has divided his book on the history of the emergence of independent Bangladesh into ten chapters. Commencement of the book deals with the identity of the country and the people, the second chapter deals with the attempt to form an independent Bengali state and the division of the subcontinent in 1947, the third chapter deals with Pakistan: state structure and inequality, the fourth chapter deals with the language movement and the establishment of Bengali identity, the fifth chapter deals with the military rule: the reign of Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan, (1958-71) the sixth chapter deals with the development of nationalism and the freedom movement, the seventh chapter deals with the mass uprising of 1969 and the 11-point movement, the eighth chapter deals with the election of 1970 and Bangabandhus declaration of independence, the ninth chapter deals with Bangladesh liberation war of 1971, and the tenth chapter deals with Bangabandhus reign of 1972-1975. In this book, only the fourth chapter deals with the language movement. However, in this discussion, he did not highlight the development of Bengali nationalism through the language movement (Hossain, 2018).

Dr. Abul Fazal Haques book on the governance and politics of Bangladesh is divided into six chapters. The first chapter discusses political changes in British India (1757-1947), the second chapter discusses the politics of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh, the third chapter discusses the formulation of the Constitution of Bangladesh and its features, the fourth chapter discusses the political process and constitutional changes, the fifth chapter discusses the Constitution of Bangladesh, and the sixth chapter discusses the political party system of Bangladesh. The second chapter of the book briefly discusses the language movement on only one page. However, despite the fact that the language movement is discussed sporadically, nothing is discussed about the rise of nationalism (Haque, 2018).

The book Womens Contribution to the Liberation War of Bangladesh, written by Shahnaz Parveen, is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, the second chapter discusses women in various movements during the British and Pakistani rule, the third chapter discusses womens participation throughout the Liberation War, the fourth chapter discusses womens oppression in 1971, and the fifth chapter discusses the evaluation of womens influence in the Liberation War. The book only highlights some sporadic incidents of womens participation in the language movement. The rise of Bengali nationalism is not discussed much in this book (Parveen, 2010).

The book History of the Rise of Independent Bangladesh, edited by Dr. Md. Maksudur Rahman, is divided into twelve chapters. The beginning of the book is Bangladesh: Introduction to the country and people, the second chapter is about the attempt to form United Bengal, the third chapter is about the state structure and inequality of Pakistan, the fourth chapter is about the language movement, the fifth chapter is about the United Front elections of 1954, the sixth chapter is about military intervention in Pakistani politics, the seventh chapter is centered on the movement for independence, the eighth chapter is about the mass uprising of 1969, the ninth chapter is about the elections of 1970, the tenth chapter is about the declaration of independence, the eleventh chapter is about Bangladesh war of independence and the twelfth chapter is about the reign of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The fourth chapter of this book discusses some scattered incidents about the language movement, where nothing is said about the development of nationalism (Rahman, 2015).

Dr. Abu Md. Delwar Hossains book History of Bangladesh 1905-1971 is divided into 34 chapters. The first chapter of the book is about the partition of Bengal and the movement to reverse the partition of Bengal, the second chapter is about the establishment of the Muslim League, the third chapter is about the Bengali armed movement, the fourth chapter is about the Lakshmi Pact of 1916, the Government of India Act of 1919, the fifth chapter is about the Khilafat Movement, the sixth chapter is about the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-1922, the seventh chapter is about the Swaraj Party and the Bengal Pact, the eighth chapter is about important events in the Indian subcontinent, the ninth chapter is about the Indian constitution Act, the tenth chapter is about the Praja Party of 1935, the eleventh chapter is about the Krishak Praja Party, the provincial elections of 1937, the Lahore Resolution of 1940, the twelfth chapter is about the Bengali Cabinet, the thirteenth chapter is about the elections of 1946, the fourteenth chapter is about the proposal to form an undivided Bengal, the fifteenth chapter is about the proposal to establish a united Bengal in 1947, the sixteenth chapter is about the Independence Act of 1947, the seventeenth chapter is about the partition of Bengal, the eighteenth chapter is about the Chapter 10 discusses the language movement, Chapter 19 discusses establishment of the Awami League, Chapter 20 discusses the zamindari of East Bengal, Chapter 21 discusses the United Front elections of 1954, Chapter 22 discusses the Constitution of 1956, Chapter 23 discusses political history of East Bengal, Chapter 24 discusses the military rule of 1958, Chapter 25 discusses the Constitution of 1962, Chapter 26 discusses the student movement of 1962-1964, Chapter 27 discusses the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Chapter 18 discusses the six-point movement, Chapter 39 discusses the eleven-point movement, Chapter 30 discusses the Agartala conspiracy case, Chapter 39 discusses the mass uprising of 1969, Chapter 32 discusses the elections of 1970, Chapter 33 discusses the inequality between East and West Pakistan, and Chapter 34 discusses Bangladesh resistance movement 1971. Undoubtedly, this is a comprehensive book. But due to the large number of chapters in the book, no detailed discussion has been given in any chapter. For this reason, a brief discussion has been made about the language movement in the eighteenth chapter of the said book. However, no space has been given to Bengali nationalism through this discussion (Hossain, 2013).

Dr. Md. Rajaul Karims book History of Bangladesh 1757-1991 is divided into 7 chapters. The first chapter discusses the British period 1757-1947, the second chapter discusses the Pakistan period 1947-1970, the third chapter discusses the Liberation War 1971, the fourth chapter discusses the Constitution of Bangla-desh 1972, the fifth chapter discusses politics and parliamentary democracy, the sixth chapter discusses military rule and subsequent events, and the seventh chapter discusses the political parties and political party system of Bangladesh. The book is undoubtedly important. However, although the second chapter of the book contains a well-structured discussion on the language movement, there is not much discussion on Bengali nationalism (Karim, 2025).

Basically, I collected data from primary sources. Newspapers and research journals are important components of the 1952 language movement. Data was also collected from various programs on the campaign for linguistic justice broadcast on Bangladesh Betar, BTV and BBC. Apart from this, I collected data by attending meetings and gatherings on the movement for language preservation. To get information on the Bengali language movement, I interviewed two people directly involved in the language movement.

Language Movement

The language movement started long ago in British India where India and Pakistan were undivided. When the All India National Congress was formed in 1885, Hindi was given priority as the language. This created a hostile attitude among the Muslim community. That is why the Congress could not maintain Hindu-Muslim unity in India. When Bengal was segmented in 1905, the Muslim community of Bengal supported the carving up of Bengal to regain the lost rights of the East. But the Hindu community started the anti-Bangla movement. As a result, the Muslim community established a political party for itself in Dhaka in 1906 called the Muslim League in order to preserve the partition of Bengal. When the Muslim community was established, the Muslim leaders of North India proposed to designate Urdu as the official language of the Muslim league. But it was thwarted due to the opposition of the Muslim League leaders in Dhaka (Karim & Akter, 2021).

Language awareness in East Pakistan

In 1937, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as the President of the Muslim League, tried to establish Urdu as the official language of the Muslim League. But it was thwarted due to the opposition of Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haq. In May 1947, at an Urdu Education Conference held in Hyderabad, Central Muslim League leader Chaudhry Khalequzzaman declared that Urdu would be the national language of Pakistan. In July of the same year, the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh University, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed, demanded the establishment of Urdu as the state language. In response to his demand, Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah proposed to make Bengali the state language instead of Urdu (Bashir, 1985).

Dr. Muhammad Shahidullahs announcements led to a strong public opinion in favor of Bengali as the national language among the educated society and student community of East Bengal. In addition to writing in newspapers and magazines, the advocacy for the Bengali language was also strengthened by establishing various political and cultural organizations. After independence, two newly formed political organizations also spoke on the issue of the Bengali language (Badruddin, 1975). The cultural organization named Tamuddam Majlish was the most vocal about the Bengali language. It was founded by Abul Kashem, a professor in the Department of Material Science of Dhaka University. This organization created awareness about the Bengali language among the students and teachers of Dhaka. The organization even wrote a book titled "Bangla or Urdu, the State Language of Pakistan"(Abdul, 1986).

The beginning of the language debate

Even though Urdu was the mother tongue of only 3.27% of Pakistans population, there was an attempt to impose Urdu state of Pakistan since independence. Only English and Urdu were used on Pakistani currency, postage stamps, money order forms, railway tickets, etc. Even Bengali was excluded from the index of recruitment exams of the Pakistan Public Service Commission. Even English and Urdu were chosen as the languages of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly (Abul, 1969).

When the Pakistan Constituent Assembly met on 23 February 1948, Congress member Rirendranath Dutt moved an amendment motion proposing that Bengali be recognized on the official language of the Constituent Assembly along with English and Urdu. His motion was discussed on 25 February. He argued that he had not made the motion out of a provincialist attitude (Haque & Akhtar, 1991). Since Bengali is the mother tongue of the majority of the Pakistani people, the language of the majority should be the official language of Pakistan. But since this motion came from a Hindu member, the Muslim League leaders rejected the motion. As Rirendranath Duttas proposal was rejected, the Dhaka student community called for a Dharmaghat on 26 February. A conference was conducted during the Dharmaghat. The speakers at the meeting condemned the Constituent Assembly for making Urdu the official language and immediately suggested that Bengali be accepted in all government job examinations, along with English and Urdu (Humayun, 1990).

In order to keep the Bengali language struggle active, the Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad was formed on March 2. This Sangram Parishad called for a Strike in East Bengal province on March 11 (1948). Throughout the strike on a specific day, 50 people were arrested. In protest against the arrest of students, the students continued the Strike from March 12 to 15 (1948). In such a situation, the Chief Minister of East Bengal, Khwaja Nazimuddin, was forced to sign an 8-point agreement with the Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad (Atiur & Lenin, 1990). But Khwaja Nazimuddin violated the terms of the agreement, so the student society continued the movement. Khwaja Nazimuddin was forced to invite Mohammad Ali Jinnah to Dhaka. Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on March 19 (1948) and declared Urdu as the state language of Pakistan in speeches on March 21 and 24. His announcement excited the student society of East Bengal. In such a situation, Jinnah left Dhaka. Following Jinnahs death, the language movement was temporarily suspended (Ataur & Syed, 1990).  

When Jinnah died in September 1948, Khwaja Nazimuddin became the Governor General of Pakistan. In 1951, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was shot dead by an assassin. The deaths of Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan gave a new dimension to the language movement. On 26 January 1952, Khwaja Nazimuddin declared Urdu as the official language of Pakistan at Paltan Maidan in Dhaka. With this declaration, the East Bengal Students Association started the movement (Akanda, 1976). In protest against Khwaja Nazimuddins statement, the All-Party State Language Council was established under the leadership of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani in the Bar Library of Dhaka on 31 January 1952. In the meantime, the Language Movement Committee called a Strike in East Bengal on 4 February in protest against Khwaja Nazimuddins statement (Ahmad, 1988). The All-Party State Language Movement Council supported the Strike called by the State Language Movement Council on 4 February. On 21 February (1952), a session of the East Bengal Provincial Legislative Council was called. As a result, the students adopted a new agenda on 21 February. The purpose of this agenda was to create pressure on the central government in this regard by getting a decision to pelmet Bengali as one of the state languages in that session. But the government expressed a strict attitude towards such agenda of the State Language Movement Council. The government imposed the Dhaka 1944 Act for a month from midnight on 20 February (1952). When students of Dhaka broke the Act on 21 February 1944 and marched in front of the East Bengal Provincial Legislative Assembly building, the police opened fire, in which many protesters were shot and some were martyred (Karim, 1916).

The development of Bengali nationalism

During the British period, hostile relations developed between Hindus and Muslims in India. Discrimination developed in many areas. In order to get rid of this discrimination, India was divided and a separate independent state for Muslims was created, Pakistan. When Pakistan was established, the Muslim com-munity of East Bengal joined Pakistan. But after the creation of Pakistan, the central ruling group of Pakistan first attacked the Bengali language in the province of East Bengal (Khalid, 1967). The inhabitants East Bengal joined Pakistan in the light of the Lahore Resolution of 1940. They originally considered this Lahore Resolution as a tool for survival. But after the establishment of Pakistan, their hopes were dashed. Because the autonomy that was accepted for East Pakistan in the Lahore Resolution was denied after the establishment of Pakistan. The ruling class of Pakistan understood that if the state power of Pakistan somehow went into the hands of East Pakistan, they would not get it back. Consequently the purpose with which they established Pakistan would be frustrated. Out of this fear, the West Pakistani ruling class first attacked the language to suppress the Bengalis (Ahmed, 2009).

The people of East Bengal were very angry with such behavior of West Pakistan. They realized that there was no alternative but movement to establish their rights. Therefore, after the establishment of Pakistan, the need to establish their rights started the language movement. The language movement spread the spark in the national awareness of the Bengalis. Shaheed Minar was built in all educational institutions of the country. A deep stir was created in the hearts of poets, literary and cultural workers. The turbulent wave of the language movement affected the United Front election. In this election, the governing Muslim League was defeated (Hasan, 2001).

In the first phase of the language movement, it was a cultural movement. But gradually it took the form of a political movement. Many political parties and political figures got involved in this movement. As a result, a sense of freedom arose among the common people of East Bengal. The subsequent movements got inspiration from the movement for mother language rights. The language movement gave birth to a kind of provincialism. After that, whenever any demand related to the interests of East Bengal was raised, the residents of East Bengal rallied in support (Rafique, 1986). The language movement transformed the student community into a latent political force. The students directly spread into politics. Within just two months of the Bengali language struggle, a student organization called the Chhatra Union was born in East Bengal. Therefore, in the subsequent movements, it can be seen that the student community was the main force. The Pakistani government raised strong protests against any injustice and corruption. Through this movement, a non-communal character was established in East Bengal. As a result, harmony increased among the Hindus and Muslims populations of East Bengal. The Awami Muslim League gained a non-communal character by dropping the word Muslim from its name. In this, the Awami League led the Bengali freedom movement against Pakistan (Rahman, 2015).

It can be concluded the language movement was not only created for the dignity of the language. The question of their livelihood was also impacted with it. From the very beginning of the inception of Pakistan, the capital and the center of administration were established in West Pakistan, ignoring the issue of population density (Rahman, 2015). The rulers language, Urdu, made the Bengalis state language, which made them more backward in various fields including employment. Along with this, there was a Western mentality of depriving Bengalis in politics and everywhere. Therefore, the language movement made Bengalis suspicious of the Muslim Leagues Muslim nationalism and the nationalism based on the two-nation ideology. They chose the adoption of the Bengali language as the foremost step to establishing rights. This Bengali nationalist enthusiasm ignited movement against autocracy and in favor of autonomy in the sixties. With this inspiration, the Bengali nation was able to gain independence in 1971 (Hasan, 2001).

The language movement of 1952 was not just a struggle for linguistic rights; it marked the beginning of a broader fight for the rights and identity of the Bengali people within the newly formed Pakistan. It catalyzed the birth of Bengali nationalism, trans-forming a cultural movement into a powerful political force. The students, intellectuals, and the general public of East Bengal, through their persistent resistance, laid the foundation for future demands of autonomy and self-determination. As the movement evolved, it highlighted the deep-rooted disparities among East and West Pakistan, both politically and culturally. The imposition of Urdu as the formal language of Pakistan alienated the Bengalis, who felt that their cultural and political rights were being systematically denied. The brutal repression of the protests, culminating in the martyrdom of students, only fueled the increasing awareness of injustice and resistance among the Bengalis. Ultimately, the langu-age movement became a symbol of resistance against oppression, leading to the awakening of Bengali nationalism. It gave birth to the sense of unity among the East Bengali people, transcending communal divisions and laying the groundwork for the larger independence movement. The victory of the struggle for Bengali language recognition marked a pivotal the past of Bangladesh, as it was the first significant step towards the eventual independence of the homeland in 1971. The language movement not only protected the dignity of the Bengali language but also solidified the peoples struggle for justice, equality, and freedom, leaving a lasting legacy in the national consciousness of Bangladesh.