A team of Indians cycled 500 kilometres from the Indian city of Kolkata to Dhaka to reach the Central Shaheed Minar and pay their tributes to the language martyrs on International Mother Language Day.
On Feb 14, the team of eight left Chandannagar in Hoogli and reached the Dhaka University campus on Monday.
On Tuesday, they placed wreaths to pay their respects at the Central Shaheed Minar, a memorial to commemorate those killed during the Bengali Language Movement in 1952, according to bdnews24.com.
The team shared that Kolkata residents also observe the day and pay homage to the martyrs, though on a small scale. But they say this time was a different experience because they paid their tribute at the same spot where the language activists were martyred.
“It’s an honour to witness the larger scale observance of the day and celebrations of language in Bangladesh. Hence, we braved the long distance and barbed wires and cycled 500 kilometres to reach here,” Shaibal Banerjee, a member of the team and a teacher by training, told bdnews24.com.
Bengali speakers, whether from Bangladesh or West Bengal, have their roots in the Bengali language, Shaibal said. “We must pay homage to those who established the right to language.”
As Shaibal puts it, Bangladesh and West Bengal have strong ties, and the only division is the ‘barbed fence’ at the borders. People from both regions have the same food and culture, he said. “We hope both Bengals can ignore that barbed fence and move together. May the Bengali language remain alive as one of the best languages in the world.”
Other cyclists in the team were Shaibal’s wife Mahua Banerjee, Anjan Das, Srikanta Mondal, Prosenjit Sarkar, Pranab Maiti, Sutyabrata Bhandari and Ramzan Ali.
Another Indian citizen named Alamgir Khan walked to Dhaka from Kolkata to pay his respects at the Central Shaheed Minar as part of a thalassaemia-free world campaign.
On Feb 8, Alamgir started from Kolkata’s Barasat on foot. He continued his campaign for a thalassaemia-free world and motivated people in every household to donate blood while on his way to Dhaka.
Thalassaemia cases are gradually increasing in Bangladesh and India, according to Alamgir. “If we don’t act now, it will become an epidemic in the future as one in every ten children will get the disease.”
He said men and women should do the medical test to determine thalassaemia carriers before marriage.
Alamgir carried the flags of both Bangladesh and India.
“There’s no difference between the people of Bangladesh and West Bengal. The Bengali people are one identity, one race. It’s only the border that separates us. I’m overwhelmed with the warmth and hospitality of the people in Bangladesh,” he said.
“All credit goes to the people in Bangladesh for Feb 21 being recognised as International Mother Language Day. As a Bengali, I feel proud to be here today.”