Dhaka, Feb. 21 -- As midnight strikes on Feb 21, all roads in Bangladesh once again lead to the Shaheed Minar, where grief and pride converge in remembrance of a language won at the cost of blood.

It was on this day in 1952 that the streets of what was then East Pakistan were stained with blood as students defied a ban on public assembly to demand recognition of Bangla as a state language.

That sacrifice not only secured linguistic rights but laid the moral foundations for Bangladesh's independence from the repressive Pakistanis nearly two decades later.

What began as a Bengali struggle is now a global observance. Crossing borders and nations, Feb 21 is marked worldwide as International Mother Language Day, a reminder of every communit...