Ekushey: The Language Movement of 1952: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. In March 1948, who declared at a public meeting in Dhaka that Urdu alone would be the state language of Pakistan?
- A. Liaquat Ali Khan
- B. Muhammad Ali Jinnah
- C. Khawaja Nazimuddin
- D. Nurul Amin
Answer: Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah made the declaration at the Racecourse Maidan in Dhaka on 21 March 1948 and repeated it at the Dhaka University convocation at Curzon Hall on 24 March. Students present openly protested with cries of 'No', an early turning point of the movement.
2. Which cultural organisation, founded in September 1947, was the first to raise the demand for Bangla as a state language?
- A. Tamaddun Majlish
- B. Chhayanaut
- C. Udichi
- D. Muslim Sahitya Samaj
Answer: Tamaddun Majlish
Tamaddun Majlish was founded on 1 September 1947 by Professor Abul Kashem of Dhaka University. Within weeks it published the booklet 'Pakistaner Rashtrabhasha: Bangla Na Urdu?', one of the first public calls for Bangla as a state language.
3. Which member of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly proposed in February 1948 that Bangla be used in the Assembly alongside English and Urdu?
- A. A.K. Fazlul Huq
- B. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
- C. Dhirendranath Datta
- D. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Answer: Dhirendranath Datta
Dhirendranath Datta, a member from East Bengal, moved an amendment in February 1948 to allow Bangla as a language of the Constituent Assembly, but it was rejected. He was later killed by the Pakistani army during the Liberation War in 1971.
4. Whose speech at Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, on 27 January 1952, repeating that Urdu alone would be the state language, reignited the movement?
- A. Liaquat Ali Khan
- B. Khawaja Nazimuddin
- C. Ayub Khan
- D. Iskander Mirza
Answer: Khawaja Nazimuddin
Khawaja Nazimuddin, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, made the remark in Dhaka on 27 January 1952. In response, an All-Party Central State Language Action Committee was formed, which called for protests across the province on 21 February.
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5. On 21 February 1952, students meeting at Dhaka University's Amtala decided to defy which government order?
- A. Martial law
- B. A dusk-to-dawn curfew
- C. A state of emergency
- D. Section 144
Answer: Section 144
The government had imposed Section 144, banning public gatherings, and students at the Amtala meeting decided to break it by marching out in small groups. Police later opened fire near the Dhaka Medical College hostel, killing Rafiq, Jabbar, Barkat and others.
6. Who wrote the lyrics of the song 'Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February'?
- A. Abdul Gaffar Choudhury
- B. Altaf Mahmud
- C. Shamsur Rahman
- D. Munier Choudhury
Answer: Abdul Gaffar Choudhury
Journalist Abdul Gaffar Choudhury wrote the lyrics soon after the killings of February 1952. The tune sung today was composed by Altaf Mahmud, who was himself killed during the Liberation War in 1971.
7. Which play about the language martyrs did Munier Choudhury write while imprisoned in 1953?
- A. Nil Darpan
- B. Raktakta Prantar
- C. Kabar
- D. Chithi
Answer: Kabar
Munier Choudhury wrote 'Kabar' (The Grave) in Dhaka Central Jail in 1953, and it was first staged by fellow political prisoners inside the jail. He was one of the intellectuals killed in December 1971.
8. Who designed the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka?
- A. Hamidur Rahman
- B. Mazharul Islam
- C. Zainul Abedin
- D. Syed Mainul Hossain
Answer: Hamidur Rahman
The Central Shaheed Minar was designed by artist Hamidur Rahman, working with sculptor Novera Ahmed. The very first Shaheed Minar was built overnight by students of Dhaka Medical College on 23 February 1952, but police soon demolished it.
9. Pakistan's first constitution, which recognised Bangla alongside Urdu as a state language, was adopted in which year?
- A. 1954
- B. 1956
- C. 1962
- D. 1969
Answer: 1956
Article 214 of Pakistan's 1956 Constitution declared Urdu and Bengali to be the state languages. This followed a 1954 decision of the Constituent Assembly to accept Bangla as a state language.
10. Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam, the expatriate Bangladeshis who first proposed an International Mother Language Day, lived in which country?
- A. United Kingdom
- B. United States
- C. Australia
- D. Canada
Answer: Canada
Living in Vancouver, Canada, they wrote to the United Nations in 1998 suggesting a day to protect the world's languages, choosing 21 February in memory of 1952. UNESCO's General Conference proclaimed International Mother Language Day on 17 November 1999.