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Bangabandhu and the Language Movement

অষ্টম শ্রেণি (মাধ্যমিক) - English for Today - Bangabandhu and Bangladesh | | NCTB BOOK

Key words : movement, discriminatory, emergence, identity

A. Look at the picture. Ask and answer the questions in pair.

  1. What is happening here?
  2. Does the picture relate to any important event in our national life?
  3. What do you know about Bangabandhu's contributions to our national life?

B. Read the text.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the few student leaders who played a significant role in turning the language movement into a mass movement. As a student leader, he was the central figure in organizing mass gatherings, rallies and strikes for raising awareness against the discriminatory language policy of Pakistan. The language movement started when the Governer General of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, declared "Urdu and only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan" on 19 March 1948 at the Racecourse Maidan while addressing a public gathering. He again uttered the same on 24 March 1948 at the University of Dhaka during his convocation speech. The students instantly protested against this announcement vehemently.

It was the time when young Mujib started organizing the student front of Muslim League in East Pakistan. He was proud of his Bengali identity and very active to initiate strikes and protests against the language policy of Pakistan government. Later, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Khwaja Nazimuddin echoed the statement of Mr. Jinnah on 26 January, 1952. Mujib was in prison during this time due to his political activism and was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College under police custody. However, he stayed in constant touch with other leaders directly engaged in the movement to make Bangla the state language. His directions from prison led the movement to a success. On 14 February, he started a hunger strike there.

During a general strike on 21 February, 1952 the protesting students tried to defy Section 144 imposed by the government. The police opened fire and killed a number of students including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat, Abdul Jabbar and others. In his autobiography, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman says, "...We decided in the meeting in my room to observe 21 February as State Language Day and to form a committee that day to conduct the movement to establish Bengali as the state language." (adapted from Centre for Research and Information (CRI), August 2020

 

C Here are some multiple choice questions with one correct answer and three incorrect answers for each of the items. Choose the correct answer and put a tick mark (√) beside it.

1. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman played a significant role in our Language Movement. What does the underlined word mean here?

                   a) famous b) important c) infamous d) active

2. The protesting students tried to defy Section 144 imposed by the government. What does the underlined words mean in this sentence?

                   a) to refuse b) to agree c) to accept d) to obey

3. What's the meaning of the word "autobiography" in the passage?

                   a) The story of a person's life written by somebody else

                   b) The story of a person's life written by his friends

                   c) The story of a person's life written by that person himself 

                   d) The story of a person's life written by a journalist

4. Which of the following words is the meaning of "central" in the passage?

                   a) most important b) less important c) unimportant d) popular

5. "We decided in the meeting in my room to observe 21 February as State Language Day". What does the underlined word mean?

                   a) to celebrate b) to maintain c) to understand d) to arrange

 

D. Read the text again to answer the following questions:

  1. Where was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during the Language Movement in 1952?
  2. Why do you think Mujib struggled for establishing Bengali as the state language?
  3. What happened on 21 February in 1952?

 

E. The grid below has two columns. Column A has some words/phrases taken from the text in Section B. Column B has their meanings. Match the phrases with their contextual meanings.

Column AColumn B
discriminatorybe in a communication
be in a communicationinvolved in
open firestrongly
stay in touchbegin to shoot
engaged ininvolved
raise awarenessunfair

 

F. Identify the main points in the text in Section B and re-write the text in 100 words.

Content added || updated By
Rezwan Siddiki Tamim

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