Bangladesh Embassy in Mexico observes Int’l Mother Language Day

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: The Embassy of Bangladesh in Mexico observed the International Mother Language Day on Tuesday in collaboration with Senate of the Republic and with the University of Iberoamericana.

The day was observed in three phases with due solemnity and fervour.

In the first phase, the Senate of the Republic, for the first time ever, observed the “International Mother Language Day” on 20 February in its Permanent Commission Hall under the forum “20 years of the General Law on the Linguistics Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.

In presence of President of the Commission on Indigenous Affairs Senator Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz , Coordinator of Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Education ( INPI) Ms. Bertha Dimas Huacuz, President of the Political Coordination Board Senator Ricardo Monreal Ávila, Senator Nestora Salgado Garcia, and other senators as well as members of the Commission on Indigenous Affairs, Ambassador Abida Islam highlighted the background of the 21st February, its contribution in the independent of Bangladesh including the status of multilingualism in Bangladesh.

She also paid deep respect to the language martyrs Bangladesh as well as all the language fighters across the world. She also recalled with profound reverence- the greatest Bengali of all times, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – who’s role was extremely instrumental in the language movement of Bengalis.

Senator Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz expressed her deep gratitude to Bangladesh for internationalizing Mother Language Day and underlined the initiatives of her Government in preserving 68 indigenous languages in Mexico.

The other Senators also paid their homage to the language martyrs of Bangladesh and highlighted the status of their indigenous languages. They also reviewed the actions and achievements of the above General Law during the past two decades.

The second phase commenced on the early morning of 21st February with the hoisting of the national flag at half-mast at the tune of the national anthem by Ambassador Abida Islam at the Chancery premise.

Later, messages of the Hon’ble President, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Foreign Minister, and Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs, given on this occasion were read out.

A documentary on this occasion was screened followed by offering of special prayer for the salvation of the souls of the language martyrs including continued peace and progress of the country.

The Embassy held the final phase of this occasion by organizing a seminar in association with Iberoamerican university where Senator Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz was present as the Guest of Honour.

At the event, Ambassadors of Ivory Coast, European Union, India and Guatemala presented the status of multilingualism in their respective countries as guest speakers .

The message of the Director-General of UNESCO was read out by the Counsellor of the Embassy Shahanaj Ranu.

Around 80 students including the Ambassadors of Palestine, Iran, Malaysia, The Philippines, Venezuela, representatives from the local media were present during the event. Director of Business Studies Faculty of Ibero-American University Javier Cervantes González also participated in the event.

Mexico and Ivory Coast participated in the cultural segment which came to an end with the playing of the song ‘Amar Ekushe’, digitally, sung by eminent singer of Bangladesh Sujit Mostafa.

The event was moderated by Dra. Aribel Contreras, Coordinator of Bachelors’ in International Affairs Administration.