Bengali Language Movement

The question as to what would be the state language of Pakistan was raised immediately after its creation. The central leaders and the Urdu-speaking intellectuals of Pakistan declared that Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan, just as Hindi was the state language of India. However, Bengalis strongly resisted attempts to impose Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan, and the students and intellectuals of East Pakistan, demanded that Bengali (Bangla) be made one of the state languages, arguing that it was in any case the native language of the majority (54% native speakers as opposed to 7% native Urdu speakers) in the whole of Pakistan.The Bengali Language Movement began in 1948 and reached its climax in a demonstration on 21 February 1952 at which several demonstrators were killed by police. After a lot of controversy over the language issue, the final demand from East Pakistan was that Bangla must be the official language and the medium of instruction in East Pakistan, and that for the central government it would be one of the state languages along with Urdu. The first movement on this issue was mobilised by Tamaddun Majlish headed by Professor Abul Kashem. Gradually many other non-communal and progressive organisations joined the movement, which finally turned into a mass movement, and ended in the adoption of Bengali as one of the state languages of Pakistan.