Language Movement Day 2026

In Bangladesh the 21st of February 2026 is Language Movement Day, also known as Language Martyrs’ Day. It takes place on the same day as the International Mother Language Day. This national Martyrs’ Day is a remembrance for the struggle of people in Bangladesh, fighting for the protection of their mother language Bengali.

In 1952 protests and procession were held by students to march against the Pakistani government. They had declared Urdu as the further only national language. Some of the students even died during the protests for Bengali. Due to the Bengali Language Movement in 1956 the new constitution said that there were two official languages and Bengali survived.