51-507: International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism . First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote
102-512: A political party . Members must not have served time in prison for more than two years to be eligible, unless they served this period five years prior to the general election date. Article 67 states that members absent without leave for 90 consecutive sitting days will lose their membership. Any ambiguity regarding membership will be resolved by the Bangladesh Election Commission . Attending sessions without being
153-472: A candidate and the governing party nominee is uncontested. Current President Mohammed Shahabuddin and previous presidents Abdul Hamid, Zillur Rahman, Iajuddin Ahmed , A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury and Shahabuddin Ahmed were all elected unopposed. The Parliament can also impeach the president by a two-thirds majority. The Parliament can form any parliamentary standing committees as it sees fit such as for
204-752: A cause or a historical event not officially recognized, while a few others are both celebrated and intended as humorous distractions. Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( Bengali : জাতীয় সংসদ , romanized : Jatiyô Sôngsôd , lit. 'National Parliament'), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as the House of the Nation , is the supreme legislative body of Bangladesh . The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected occupants are called members of Parliament , or MPs. The 12th national parliamentary election
255-472: A formal proposal was submitted to UNESCO by the Government of Bangladesh . The process of shepherding the proposal through UNESCO's regulatory system was undertaken by Syed Muazzem Ali , then Bangladesh ambassador to France and Permanent Representative to UNESCO, and Tozammel Tony Huq , his predecessor, who was then a Special Adviser to UNESCO Secretary General Federico Mayor . Finally on 17 November 1999,
306-585: A member (even if memberships are cancelled in retrospect) results in a BDT 1,000 (US$ 11.75) fine per day, per Article 69. Article 70 of the Constitution makes floor crossing illegal. Members engaging in floor crossing lose their membership immediately. Floor crossing is described in the Constitution as: The only case of floor crossing in Bangladeshi history due the stringent article
357-465: A number of committees, with small numbers of members appointed to deal with particular topics or issues. The Committees on Ministry (CoM) are committees which are set down under the Parliament's standing orders. The number of Committees on Ministry approximates the number of ministries of Bangladesh , and the titles of each are roughly similar (e.g., defence, agriculture, and labour). There are, as of
408-511: A parliamentarian, and so must at least 90% of the ministers. The president must appoint a prime minister who, in his reasoned opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the House. The cabinet remains answerable to the Parliament and the President. The president of Bangladesh is elected by the Parliament through open ballot voting. As a result, the opposition party seldom nominates
459-558: A parliamentary working committee. The size of a group determines the extent of its representation on legislative committees, the time slots allotted for speaking, the number of committee chairs it can hold, and its representation in executive bodies of the parliament. The Parliament executive bodies include the speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad , the House Committee and Parliament Secretariat. The House Committee consists of
510-493: Is administered by the parliamentary librarian, a statutory officer responsible for the control and management of the facility, reporting to the deputy speaker and the Library Committee. Although the library is open to the public, only current and former members of Parliament, secretariat staff, and authorised researchers may check out books and materials. The Sangsad Bangladesh Television (publicly known as Sangsad TV)
561-461: Is announced on International Mother Language Day. The Ekushey Youth Award, introduced in 2015 by Alberta's Mahinur Jahid Memorial Foundation (MJMF) and announced on IMLD, is awarded annually to recipients who inspire youth in the fields of education, sports, youth activities, literature, and community service. The award is open Alberta residents. List of minor secular observances#February Lists of holidays by various categorizations. In
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#1732775694102612-770: Is celebrated in Chile , Russia , the Philippines , Egypt and Canada . Bangladeshis celebrate International Mother Language Day by placing flowers at the Martyrs' Monument and its replicas. A public holiday in the country since 1953, it is also known as Shohid Dibôsh (Martyr Day). On 17 November 1999, the UNESCO General Conference recognized 21 February as International Mother Language Day. Bangladeshis organize social gatherings honoring their language and culture, hold literary competitions, draw alpana on
663-657: Is commonly known as Parliament and often referred to simply as the Sangsad or JS . The term " member of Parliament " ( Bengali : সংসদ সদস্য , romanized : Saṁsad sadasya ) refers to both the 300 elected members and the 50 nominated women members of the Sangsad. The title is almost always shortened to the initialism "MP" and often referred to simply as the Sāṁsada in Bengali. Members of Parliament are entitled to use
714-495: Is considered harmful for parliamentary democracy, as the ban forces members to agree with their party leaders regardless of their own opinions or the opinions of their constituents. Article 71 of the Constitution allows eligible people to be candidates in more than one constituency. However, if elected from multiple seats, the member must vacate all but one seat. It is usually the custom for prominent politicians, especially party leaders to stand in multiple constituencies. During
765-538: Is considered to void the choice of the people. The prime objective of banning floor crossing is to prevent members from joining other parties for personal gains or to induce disloyalty. This is crucial in marginal majorities, where a few members voting against the majority essentially changes the government party in power causing political instability. The negative effects are broad however such as stopping members from speaking out against bad policies pitched by their party or voting against their party on legislation. This
816-488: The Bangladesh Administrative Service , is in charge of all its supporting and advisory duties such as keeping a record of members' voting, speeches, advising on protocol, general clerical, broadcasting and information activities. Most of the legislative work in the Parliament is done in the standing committees, which exist largely unchanged throughout one legislative period. The Parliament has
867-651: The Prime Minister of Bangladesh , and so the head of the government . The President of Bangladesh, the ceremonial head of state , is chosen by Parliament. Since the December 2008 national election, the majority party has been the Awami League led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina . The parliament has been dissolved by President Mohammed Shahabuddin on 6 August 2024 following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina. The Constitution of Bangladesh designates
918-1033: The Senate . In March 2022, Ken Hardie Sponsored Bill S-214 in the House of Commons , and it passed into law on 15 June 2022. As part of Digital India initiative, digitized content will be made available in the country's 22 scheduled languages and extended to India's other 234 recognized languages. Digitization began in June 2016 through the Bharatavani Project at the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore , and by February 2017 content in 60 Indian languages had been made available free of charge. The Mother Tongue Film Festival in Washington, D.C., has been held since 2017 to coincide with Mother Languages Day. A replica of Dhaka's Shaheed Minar
969-419: The 2008 election Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina , prominent AL figure (and later prime minister of Bangladesh ) Zillur Rahman , BNP leader Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party leader H M Ershad all were candidates in the maximum possible number of constituencies. The president of Bangladesh appoints a cabinet with the prime minister and other ministers from among the members. The prime minister must be
1020-513: The 30th General Assembly of UNESCO unanimously resolved that "21st February be proclaimed International Mother Language Day throughout the world to commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed their lives on this very day in 1952." UNESCO chooses a theme for each International Mother Language Day, and sponsors related events at its Paris headquarters. In 2008, the International Year of Languages began on International Mother Language Day. It
1071-491: The Government of Pakistan declared Urdu to be the sole national language of Pakistan, even though Bengali or Bangla was spoken by the majority of people combining East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The East Pakistan people protested since the majority of the population was from East Pakistan and their mother language was Bangla. They demanded Bangla to be at least one of the national languages, in addition to Urdu. The demand
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#17327756941021122-643: The Linguapax Institute in Barcelona . The prize recognizes outstanding achievement in the preservation of linguistic diversity, the revitalization of linguistic communities and the promotion of multilingualism . The annual Ekushey Heritage Award, introduced in 2014 by the Bangladesh Heritage and Ethnic Society of Alberta (BHESA), recognizes outstanding achievement in fields such as education, social work and community service. The award
1173-608: The Parliament has been regarded as a rubber stamp body as MPs cannot cross the floor , have free votes (vote against their party whip) or pass motions of no confidence due to Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh . This article imposes ultra-strict party discipline on the chamber; any MP voting against their party automatically loses their seat. Political scientists, judges in the Supreme Court , public intellectuals, newspapers and journalists, civil rights activists and many members of parliament have demanded reform of
1224-557: The Provisional Parliament of Bangladesh until the first elections under the new constitution took place in 1973. Until 10 July 1981 the Constituent Assembly, and the first and second parliaments held their sittings in the building that now houses the Prime Minister's Office and which is often referred as the old Sangsad Bhaban (old Parliament House). The opening ceremony of the present Parliament House
1275-580: The age of 25; dual citizenship is possible for civilians in Bangladesh, but not for MPs who must not hold any other citizenship. Members are elected by direct polling in their respective constituencies. Whoever wins the most votes, regardless of turnout or proportion, wins the election. Members are elected for a term of five years, with the entire Parliament dissolving five years after the swearing-in. Members can be re-elected indefinitely, and so have no term limits. They may be independent or affiliated with
1326-424: The article. Critics argue Article 70 tramples freedom of speech and freedom of conscience and is a violation of the constitution's fundamental rights. Additionally, it significantly limits the checks and balances on the prime minister, as there are few means by which s/he can be legally dismissed under the constitution or even held to basic scrutiny with repercussions. In Bangladesh, the parliament usually reflects
1377-503: The building is one of the largest legislative complexes in the world, comprising 200 acres (81 ha). Louis Kahn designed the entire Jatiya Sangsad complex, which includes lawns, lake and residences for the members of the Parliament (MPs). The main building, which is at the center of the complex, is divided into three parts – the Main Plaza, South Plaza and Presidential Plaza. The Sangsad Library or Parliament Library claims to be
1428-522: The courts. The parliament itself is vested with the power to provide indemnity to anybody in service of the nation under Article 46. This allowed the 2nd parliament in 1979 to ratify the Indemnity Ordinance . The parliamentary groups of the Jatiya Sangsad are groups of members of Parliament organised by a political party or coalition of parties. The leadership of each groups consists of a parliamentary party leader, deputy leader, whips and
1479-558: The current tenth Parliament, 50 standing committees. The distribution of committee chairs and the membership of each committee reflect the relative strength of the various Parliamentary groups in the house. The parliament is housed in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন Jatiyô Sôngsôd Bhôbôn ), located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka . Designed by the American architect Louis Kahn ,
1530-484: The dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. Rafiqul Islam's proposal was introduced in the Bangladesh parliament and in due course (at the behest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina )
1581-596: The most comprehensive library in Bangladesh, holding over 85,000 books and many more reports, parliamentary debates, government gazettes, journals, magazines and newspapers. The library is housed in Sangsad Bhaban in Sher e Bangla Nagar, Dhaka. The library was established in 1972, after the immediate formation of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh to support the lawmakers and their staff. The library
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1632-564: The official name of the legislature Jatiya Sangsad ( জাতীয় সংসদ ) in Bengali and House of the Nation in English. The term Sangsad ( Bengali pronunciation: [ˈʃɔŋʃɔd̪] ), a Bengali word for "Parliament", derives from the Sanskrit word saṃsada ( lit. ' gathering ' or ' assembly ' ). The Bengali word Jatiya means National, hence, the name Jatiya Sangsad translates to National Parliament. The legislature
1683-732: The order of the Wheel of the Year : The following table is a chart based on a Messianic Jewish perspective of the 9 biblical holidays (including the Sabbath), along with their times and days of occurrence, references in the Bible , and how they point to Yeshua ( Jesus ). All the holidays shown below are major with the exceptions of the Feast of Dedication and the Feast of Lots which are minor festivals. The following holidays are observed to some extent at
1734-419: The parliament speaker, deputy speaker and whips. Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party's discipline and behaviour of its members on the floor of the house. The committee is the coordination hub, determining the daily legislative agenda and assigning committee chairpersons based on parliamentary group representation. The Parliament Secretariat, headed by a senior secretary from
1785-508: The parliament. The electoral districts are referred to as " Nirbācanī ēlākā " ( নির্বাচনী এলাকা ) in Bengali , which can be literally translated to English as "electoral area" though the official English translation for the term is "constituency". The term "Nirbācanī ēlākā" is used while referring to an electoral district in general. The constituencies are arranged as to coincide with the administrative districts of Bangladesh , distributed among
1836-504: The prefix "The Honourable" (Bengali: মাননীয় , romanized: Mānanīẏa ). The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was established on 10 April 1972 after the Bangladesh Liberation War to prepare a democratic constitution and served as its first parliament as an independent nation. The assembly approved the constitution on 4 November 1972, and it took effect on 16 December and the Constituent Assembly became
1887-580: The preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 May 2007 in UN resolution 61/266, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages.< The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh . In Bangladesh, 21 February 1952 is the anniversary of the day when the Bengalis of
1938-433: The proportion to their population. Numbers may vary from two to twenty members per district. The seats are indicated with the district name suffixed by a number (e.g. Panchagarh-1 or Jessore-6 ). Each constituency is represented by a single member of Parliament, and is elected by the first-past-the-post system. Article 66 of the Constitution makes membership open to any citizen of Bangladesh and only to citizens above
1989-455: The purposes of examining bills, reviewing government policy and any other matter of public importance. The de facto power of the committees have always been nominal however; the de jure power too is ambiguous, especially after the Supreme Court ruled that it was not answerable to summons from parliamentary committees and senior civil servants rarely being brought before committees to answer for public administrative decisions. In practice,
2040-1044: The roads, eat festive meals and listen to songs. Bangla Academy arranges Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka for the whole month of February. International Mother Language Day was introduced to the Parliament of Canada for recognition by Matthew Kellway on 5 February 2014 as a private member's bill , C-573, however it was never debated and failed to become law. In 2015, British Columbia and Manitoba issued proclamations observing International Mother Language Day on 21 February. Edmonton observed International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2017. Edmonton Ekushey observed by Bangladesh Heritage & Ethnic Society and Diverse Edmonton with due respect in Edmonton on 23 February 2020. In December 2021, Independent Senators Group member, Mobina Jaffer , introduced and Sponsored Bill S-214, An Act to establish International Mother Language Day, in
2091-479: The same time during the Southern Hemisphere 's summer, with the exception of Winter Solstice. Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, around the world, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given. These are holidays that are not traditionally marked on calendars. These holidays are celebrated by various groups and individuals. Some are designed to honor or promote
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2142-569: The then-Pakistani province of East Bengal (which is now the independent state of Bangladesh) fought for recognition of their Bengali language . It is also observed by the Indian Bengalis of the Indian states of West Bengal , Assam , Jharkhand , Tripura and the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands . 21 February was declared to be International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. It has been observed throughout
2193-551: The will of the government, not vice versa as in a well-functioning parliamentary democracy. The checks and balances then formed on the prime minister and their cabinet is by civil servants in the Bangladesh Administrative Service and the courts, which are usually too docile to challenge the executive. Article 78 of the Constitution provides immunity for the speeches, actions and votes of the Members within parliamentary sessions, and so members are not answerable for any such actions to
2244-668: The world since 21 February 2000. The declaration came up in tribute to the Language Movement done by the Bangladeshis (then the East Pakistanis ). When Pakistan was created in 1947, it had two geographically separate parts: East Pakistan (currently known as Bangladesh ) and West Pakistan (currently known as Pakistan ). The two parts were very different from each other in the sense of culture and language, and were also separated by India in between. In 1948,
2295-591: Was a rare incident in history, where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue. Since then, Bangladeshis celebrate the International Mother Language Day as one of their tragic days. They visit the Shaheed Minar , a monument built in memory of the martyrs and its replicas to express their deep sorrow, respect and gratitude to them. International Mother Language Day is a national holiday in Bangladesh. The resolution
2346-599: Was built in London in 1999 in Altab Ali Park , Whitechapel . Members of the community come here to mark International Mother Language Day by laying wreaths and singing revolutionary songs. There is also a Shaheed Minar replica in Westwood, Greater Manchester. Community members come from across North England to mark International Mother Language Day at the monument. The Linguapax Prize is awarded annually on IMLD by
2397-455: Was held on 7 January 2024. Elections to the body are held every five years, unless a parliament is dissolved earlier by the President of Bangladesh . On 6 August 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament after the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and ordered to form a interim government . The leader of the party (or alliance of parties) holding the majority of seats becomes
2448-407: Was performed on 15 February 1982. The last session of the second parliament was held in the new house on 15 February 1982. The maximum strength of the Parliament envisaged by the Constitution of Bangladesh is 350, which is made up by the general election of 300 members to represent 300 parliamentary constituencies and 50 seats reserved for women, which are apportioned on elected party position in
2499-576: Was raised first by Dhirendranath Datta from East Pakistan on 23 February 1948, in the constituent Assembly of Pakistan. To demolish the protest, the government of Pakistan outlawed public meeting and rallies. The students of the University of Dhaka , with the support of the general public, arranged massive rallies and meetings. On 21 February 1952, police opened fire on rallies. Abdus Salam , Abul Barkat , Rafiq Uddin Ahmed , Abdul Jabbar and Shafiur Rahman died, with hundreds of others injured. This
2550-622: Was suggested by Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam, Bengalis living in Vancouver , Canada. They wrote a letter to Kofi Annan on 9 January 1998 asking him to take a step for saving the world's languages from extinction by declaring an International Mother Language Day. Rafiq proposed the date as 21 February to commemorate the 1952 killings in Dhaka during the Language Movement. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote
2601-481: Was when members M. A. Mannan and Mahi B. Chowdhury defected from the Bangladesh National Party to form a new party, Bikolpo Dhara . Fresh by-elections were held soon after the seats were vacated. Mahi B. Chowdhury retained his seat under the new party, whereas Mannan lost. As most candidates are elected by the funding, support and brand name of the party, and resignation from the party
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