The history of the International Mother Language Day has amazed a South Korean visitor.
“Man can die for a language! It cannot be imagined,” says Cenyun Park, a pharmacist by profession.
“I could never believe that a whole-month long programme is being organised to commemorate the day if I had not come to Bangladesh,” she said.
She came to Bangladesh for the first time and was able to witness how the nation observed the International Mother Language Day.
She also laid flowers at the altar of the central Shaheed Minar on Friday to pay tribute to the sacrifices of those who had died for the language in 1952.
She talked to bdnews24.com on the premises of Bangla Academy. She came to Bangladesh representing International Youth Exchange Centre.
She was accompanied by 16 others visitors from different professions.
“I am overwhelmed by seeing millions of people standing in line to place flowers at the Shaheed Minar and the month-long book fair,” she said.
“I have also seen book fairs in Seoul, but that is not so vast. I have never seen such a long-drawn fair in any country in the world.”
“I had heard that Bangladesh organise various programmes to commemorate a historic incident related to their language. But I could not have fathomed the enormity of the event if I had not seen it myself.”
South Korean Park and her companions were in Dhaka after visiting Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sreemangal.
Soon after setting foot in Dhaka city, they went to the central Shaheed Minar beside Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.
The team was accompanied by several expatriate Bangladeshis. Javed Iqbal was one of them.
Javed Iqbal said they came to Dhaka from Sreemangal just to place flowers at the altar of Shaheed Minar. They will return after visiting the National Museum and the National Zoo.
“The 17-team includes doctors, journalists, development activists and university students. The visit to Bangladesh was planned keeping the Ekushey February in mind.”
Among the entourage was Lee Dong Hwang, the chief correspondent of A2TV.
“As a journalist, I knew about this. But I could not have got to the depths of the emotions unless I was here. I would file a report on it after returning home,” she said.
“Through the report, I want to show my country how enthusiastically Bangladesh commemorates the day for their language.”
Source: Bd news24