Enduring Legacy 1952: That Day In February

The realities of Ekushey, or around it, need to be focused on again, all these years after 1952. Precisely what happened on the day here in Dhaka is what must be brought back into the public domain, for Ekushey was that single and singular event which opened the path to eventual liberation for the people of East Bengal.

- Syed Badrul Ahsan

Between 1952 and 1971, it was a mere nineteen years. In those years, a whole world changed for Bengalis. Perspectives were transformed, attitudes were reshaped. In plain terms, the Bengalis went back to their roots, reinvented themselves as it were.

The Rubicon was crossed on 21 February 1952. The imposition of Section 144 a day earlier by the provincial government, while it appeared to act as a damper on the spirits of some, by and large acted as a provocation for a majority of students and other young people determined to make their voices heard on the language issue. There was a clear difference of opinion between what could loosely be regarded as pragmatists and radicals on whether or not Section 144 should be violated. On 21 February, beginning early in the morning, the campus of Dhaka University began to fill with students driven very much by a desire for a showdown, if showdown it had to be, with the authorities.