A large monument commemorating International Mother Language Day, Bangladesh’s United Nations initiative, is to be built at Small Heath Park in Birmingham, the area which is home to the city’s largest Bangladeshi population.
International Mother Language Day has been observed since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity after it was approved by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to commemorate the day when students from Dhaka were killed in protests in 1952 whilst campaigning for Bangla to be recognised as a state language of Pakistan.
"Small Heath Park is an important site for the Bangladeshi community,” notes the Design and Access statement for the new proposed monument submitted to the Birmingham City Council for approval last week.
"On 28th March 1971 thousands of Bangladeshis gathered there in support of Bangladesh’s independence. This day is still observed each year at Small Heath Park by the Bangladeshi community in Birmingham and the West Midlands,” it adds.
The monument involves a 7-metre structure to be unveiled in time for Mother Language Day on February 21, 2020. The concept is based on the original structure in Dhaka – featuring five pieces of steel framework representing a mother and her family. The tallest, the mother, would be in the middle and the other structures will be placed around it.
“Each year a temporary structure is built to mark the day and around 400 people gather before midnight on the eve of 21 February to pay their respects to those who lost their lives and to promote the freedom to speak one’s mother tongue, peace and cultural diversity," explains the concept note, adding that there is an overwhelming interest and desire within the Bangladeshi community for a permanent monument to be built at the site.
“The structure will provide a cultural focus within the park and reflect its history as the first location where the Bangladesh flag was raised abroad following its recognition as an independent nation,” says the design statement.
To drive the project forward, a committee called the International Mother Language Monument Project has been established through the Bangladeshi Assistant High Commissioner’s office in the UK, which has raised funds for the erection of the monument and its future maintenance.