At Kibabii University, located in the foothills of the imposing Mt. Masaba, we celebrated International Mother Language Day amid colour, pomp, glamour, song and dance. This special day was established by UNESCO in 1952 in memory of martyrs, students and language activists in Eastern Pakistan, now Bangladesh, who perished while protesting the unfair exclusion of Bengali language. The Bangladesh government had elevated Urdu to a national language. Bengali speakers felt discriminated against.
Each year, on 21st February, we congregate to speak, sing and dance as a gesture of linguistic diversity, preservation and protection of all languages around the world.
Languages are not just a means of communication; they also act as repositories of history, culture and identity. Languages shape our world view, beliefs, and the general socialization.
This day is marked by exchanging riddles, spoken word, phrases, songs or proverbs in mother languages. All these to celebrate the diversity together!
