In 2002 when the Language Movement in Bangladesh completed its 50 years we broadcast a series titled: Bahanno Ekhon Ponchashey .
This year while we observe the Golden Jubilee of VOA Bangla Program , we rebroadcast some of the programs from the series in an abridged form.
The first part of this program looks into the genesis of the Language Movement in Bangladesh. The second part of the program narrates the history of Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s being adamant in undermining Bengali as one of the national languages of the erstwhile Pakistan. The second and the third part of the program looks at the events leading to Jinnah’s denial of Bengali as one of the state languages of the erstwhile Pakistan. In the fourth program we look into the events leading to the tragedy of February 21,1952. In the fifth program , the actual tragedy of killing students in Bangladesh for demanding Bangla as one of the national languages of erstwhile Pakistan has been narrated and the sixth program is based on the immediate reaction of the killings resulting in further killings on 22 February 1952. The 7th part of the program is about the wide reaction in Bangladesh. The 8th part of this program looks into the economic perspective of the language movement. The 9th part of the program discusses the linguistic and cultural implications in the making of Bengali nationhood.. The tenth and eleventh program reflected its impact on Bengali language and literature . The twelveth part talks about the first poem and the first song of Ekush. The thirteenth part narrates the story of the making of a famous Ekush hymn , Amar Bhayer Roktey Rangano....while the fourteeth episode looks into the observance of the Martyrs Day in the following year.The fifteenth episode is about the publications on the Language Martyr day.
