Poll Results-International Mother Language day

21 February was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. This is an international recognition of a Language. Name it. Here is the answer. Thank you all who have participated din this poll. 21st February is the International Mother Language Day 21st Feb. stands as the day when the world pays the respect to all the vernacular languages in the world; an event that was initiated in the year 2000 to commemorate all those who achieved martyrdom by sacrificing their own lives for the sake of their mother tongue (Bengali). A proposal was submitted to the UNESCO General Conference in Paris on 17 November 1999 from Bangladesh. And what followed was a strong support from other countries including Bahamas, Belarus, Chile, Dominion Republic, Egypt, Gambia and Honduras among the other twenty-five apart from my own country, India, to encourage a bond between the linguistic diversities as a whole. UNESCO moved forward to designate Ekushey (i.e. 21st Feb.) as the International Mother Tongue Day. International Mother Tongue Day grants a fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions on a global basis to inspire international solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. It was the first organized revolt in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to defend the dying language from the abdicable coercion and to re-assert the Bengali rights and cultural values. And there was a price that was paid, many young lives were lost but 21 February 1952(the day when this movement was brutally dealt by the rulers) restored back people’s faith in democracy, their belief in tradition and their loyalty to the historical values, concentrated in the form of their mother tongue, that had once come under an assault. With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages (ranking 5th or 6th in the world). Bengali is the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most spoken language in India. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language)