By IANS,
Agartala : India and Bangladesh will jointly hold the International Mother Language Day at the no-man’s land along the border here Tuesday in an effort to enhance the people-to-people contact between the two neighbours.
“For the first time the day would be celebrated jointly at Akhaura checkpost, near here. The programme is set to strengthen the existing ties between the two countries,” Subhrajit Bhattacharjee, editor of Neharika Little Magazine and the brain behind the event, said Monday.
A cultural programme comprising songs, dance and recitations will be performed at the zero point on the border with artistes from both the two countries.
Pabitra Kar, member of the Tripura assembly and a co-organiser, said: “We are separated by the border but have a common culture and language on both the sides and now with the observance of the mother tongue day, the Bengali speaking people of the two nations would be reunited.”
“In 1952, Bangladesh’s language movement martyrs who laid down their lives to establish their right to Bengali as a state language during the Pakistani rule, expected to bring Bangladesh and India closer,” Kar said.
The Tripura government’s information and cultural affairs department is also actively supporting the Tuesday’s programme.
International Mother Language Day, first announced by UNESCO Nov 17, 1999, is observed Feb 21 every year worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.