A reminder of our values
Ekushey adds substance to our being
Ekushey is a perennial reminder to us of the values we live by as a nation. And these are values we reasserted in February 1952 through our spirited defence of our language when it came under threat from quarters not too happy about according it the place on the political and social pantheon it deserved. In 1952 and before it, the Bengali struggle was not so much against a foreign language as it was a movement against crude attempts to have Bangla take a back seat in our national life. The sadness comes in remembering that it took the lives of Bengali young men for their language to find its niche in the politico-cultural clime of the times.
With that feeling of sadness arises anew the awareness of Ekushey being the earliest demonstration, post-1947, of our fundamental secular moorings as a nation. In that broad sense of the meaning, Ekushey was not a beginning and an end. It was the inauguration of an evolutionary process that would take us forward in our efforts toward realizing our nationalistic aspirations. The seeds of cultural secularism opened up by the Language Movement of 1952 were to sprout into hardy plants of political autonomy and then sovereignty within a span of nineteen years. In other words, what we had branched out to achieve in terms of language in 1952 was to find fullness through the attainment of national liberty in 1971.
Nearly six decades after February 1952, it is time for us to sit back and take stock of what we have achieved so far and where we mean to go from here on. Our yearning for a better society where exploitation will be no more, where the rule of law will underpin democracy, where language will be the sheet anchor of the culture we present to the world remains. We have come a long way, but resting on our laurels will not be enough. For values need to be sustained and replenished with substance every step of the way. That is what Ekushey speaks to us of.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
Why is safe water inaccessible for millions despite rising spending?
5 hour(s) ago
Editorial
BB must confront bad loans’ true scale
18 June 2026, 18:38 PM
Editorial
Dolphin deaths must be investigated
18 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
Weak policing fuelling rise in crimes
17 June 2026, 18:18 PM
Editorial
Three union names, one troubling pattern
17 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
Comments