The status of Bengali language has spread around the world. Since independence from the British in 1947, hostilities between East and West Pakistan were triggered. One of the main reasons for this was because of the mother tongue. The mother tongue of East Pakistan and the West Pakistan (now Pakistan) Urdu. Then on 21 March 1948, in a huge rally organized on the occasion of East Pakistan tour, the then Political Secretary Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared, "Urdu and the only Urdu will be the state language of Pakistan." And after the announcement, the very movement of the people of Bengal for the mother tongue Bengal started.
On February 21, 1952, Barkat, Rafiq, Salam and Jabbar, the four best children of the country, died for Bangla language. The demand for mother language to state language was their crime. That great and important movement spread all over the world. The United Nations declared a 'International Mother Language Day' on 21 February. Through this, people of different languages of the world got the opportunity to honor Mother's language. The greatness of Bengali language has been studied around the world. Just half a century later, the occasion of celebrating the joy of Bangla speaking people was created. In 2002, the Golden Jubilee of our Language Movement was celebrated, that same year, Sierra Leone, 15,000 kilometers away from Bangladesh, declared the Bangla language as one of its official languages.
As part of the United Nations Peace Mission, the relations between the two countries have improved greatly by sending Bangladesh army to Sierra Leone. Note that Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961. After the death of the Prime Minister in 1964, due to corruption, mismanagement and inadequacy, anarchy arose in the country and political instability arose. Civil war started since 1991. When the West African countries failed to solve Sierra Leone's problems, the UN took responsibility for peace in 1999. 13 countries including Bangladesh joined the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone. The first group of 775 soldiers from Bangladesh took responsibility in the southern part of Sierra Leone in Lungi. Slowly, more troops from Bangladesh went to Sierra Leone and spread all over the country. At one point, about 5,300 soldiers of Bangladesh were working together in Sierra Leone. After the peace establishment, Bangladesh team returned in 2005.
Bangladesh Army tried to build trust and security among the different nationalities to bring normal life along with their regular military activities. As a medium of communication, ordinary soldiers used English as well as Bengali language. Since Bangla was unfamiliar with the locals, Bengali soldiers began to teach them with their patience. The general people accepted Bengali language very enthusiastically. Along with the language, they became familiar with Bengali culture. It is to be noted, wherever there are Bangladeshi troops in 2002, local people, especially young people, can speak in Bengali. Locals started using Bengali language at different meetings. In the cultural event, local people were seen to perform Bengali dance and song. The Bengali language has gained popularity in Sierra Leone due to the hard work of the Bangladesh Army. As the locals learn Bangla language to run the work, the Bangladesh army goes much far ahead of others in establishing peace and reconstruction of the country.
In the process of peace in Sierra Leone, soldiers from 31 countries were working from the first to the last. Although the army of almost every country faced the attacks of different rebel groups fighting in the war, the Bangladesh army was an exception, because the Bangladeshi army was always devoted to their responsibilities, but also tried to win the minds of the common people. As a result, the initiative of promoting Bengali language to the locals among the locals is easily achieved.
Being appreciative of the role of Bangladeshi peacekeepers, the Sierra Leone government recognized Bangla as the second language of the country. The then President Ahmad Tazain Kabah announced this while inaugurating a 54-kilometer road built by the Bangladesh Army. In addition to some of the states of Bangladesh and India, it was first recognized as the official language of Bangla language anywhere, in the field of our army's activities. When we honored Bengali language in our country in February, our mother's language got the same level in Sierra Leone. When international mother tongue is celebrated all over the world, everybody thinks that people of Bangladesh have set a unique example of blood for their mother's language. We have a strong bond with all the countries and people in the whole world.