Bangladesh is solemnly paying glowing tributes to its valiant sons who made the supreme sacrifice to establish the Bangalees’ rights for the mother tongue of a nation.

The observance of the Feb 21 Shaheed Dibas or Martyrs' Day started with the president and the prime minister placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in the first hours of Thursday.

President Md Abdul Hamid placed the wreath first, followed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They also stood in silence for some moments to show respect to the Language Movement martyrs.

Hasina walked to the memorial’s altar twice – once with the members of her Cabinet and then with her party colleagues as Awami League President.

Tens of thousands of people from across the broad spectrum of society began to gather at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, the memorial for the 1952 Language Movement martyrs, since late Wednesday night.

The immortal line -- “‘Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano Ekushey February, Ami Ki Bhulite Pari’ (Can I forget the twenty-first of February, incarnadined by the love of my brother?) -- was on everyone’s lips.

On this day in 1952, police shot dead several persons protesting against the then Pakistan government’s decision to impose Urdu as the sole state language on the people of erstwhile East Pakistan.

Salam, Rafique, Shafique, Jabbar and Barkat embraced martyrdom in police firing as they took to street to intensify the campaign to establish Bangla as the state language of the then East Pakistan, sowing the seeds of subsequent movements for the country's independence.

Eventually, Bangladesh snatched independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The UNESCO in 1999 declared Feb 21 as International Mother Language Day.

Thousands stood in queues with flowers in their hands to place at the altar of the Central Shaheed Minar before midnight. After the distinguished citizens left Shaheed Minar at midnight, it was opened to the general public to pay tribute.

In a message, President Hamid remembered the sacrifice of the gallant souls who laid down their lives in the movement.

Prime Minister Hasina, in another message, said the Ekushey was the symbol of “grief, strength and glory in the life of every Bangalee”.