Editing History of Bangladesh (section)

===Bengali Language Movement===
{{main|Bengali language movement}}
[[Image:1952 Bengali Language movement.jpg|thumb|Procession march held on 21 February 1952 in [[Dhaka]]]]
A rift developed over the question of the national language.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=109}}</ref> The Bengali Language Movement was a political effort in Bangladesh (then known as [[East Pakistan]]), advocating the recognition of the [[Bengali language]] as an [[official language]] of [[Pakistan]]. Such recognition would allow Bengali to be used in government affairs. It was led by Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed.<ref>{{cite book | last=Van Schendel | first=Willem | date=2009 | title=A History of Bangladesh | url=https://www.bookdepository.com/History-Bangladesh-Willem-Van-Schendel/9780521861748 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | page=288 | isbn=9780521861748 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040219/https://www.bookdepository.com/History-Bangladesh-Willem-Van-Schendel/9780521861748 | archive-date=1 December 2017 | url-status=dead | access-date=24 November 2017 }}</ref>

When the state of Pakistan was [[Partition of India|formed]] in 1947, its two regions, East Pakistan (also called East Bengal) and [[West Pakistan]], were split along cultural, geographical, and linguistic lines. On 23 February 1948, the [[Government of Pakistan]] ordained [[Urdu]] as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Pakistan. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the [[University of Dhaka]] and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest on 21 February 1952.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Schendel |first=Willem |date=2009 | title=A History of Bangladesh | publisher=Cambridge University Press | page=289 | isbn=9780521861748}}</ref> The movement reached its climax when police opened fire on the students that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest led by the [[Bangladesh Awami League|Awami Muslim League]], later renamed the [[Awami League]]. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. On 17 November 1999, [[UNESCO]] declared 21 February [[International Mother Language Day]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glassie |first1=Henry |last2=Mahmud |first2=Feroz |year=2008 |title=Living Traditions |series=Cultural Survey of Bangladesh Series |volume=11 |location=Dhaka |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |page=578 |oclc=299379800}}</ref>