History and Background: 

International Mother Language Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to honor the language movement that took place in Bangladesh on February 21, 1952. On this day, students and activists courageously protested for their language, Bengali, to be their official language. The movement aimed at securing recognition for Bengali, spoken by the majority in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), as one of the official languages. The sacrifice of those brave individuals, known as the Language Martyrs, drew global attention and, in turn, led to the recognition of Bengali as an official language alongside Urdu in Pakistan.

February 21 was later declared as International Mother Language Day to honor this historic event and to promote linguistic and cultural diversity worldwide. Today, this day serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving and celebrating our mother languages as a fundamental aspect of our identity.

For this campaign, we told our community to express how their mother language shapes them as an individual. Here are some short videos from them-