Satyajit Das (Moulvibazar Correspondent):
Even after 73 years of the language movement, the four language warriors of Moulvibazar district have not yet received state recognition. These four pioneers who fought for the language—former members of parliament Mohammad Elias, Syed Matiur Rahman, Mofiz Ali and Rasendra Dutta Chowdhury—have left their mark of heroism on the soil of Bengal, but no government or private initiative has properly evaluated them.
Of these four, Rasendra Dutta Chowdhury is the only living language soldier who is still awaiting state recognition.
Contribution and neglect of language soldiers:-
(1) Mohammad Elias: Born in Kushalpur village of Kamalganj police station of the then South Srihatta (Moulvibazar) subdivision. He was directly involved in the language movement in Dhaka in 1952 and was the founding secretary of the East Pakistan Students Union. He also played an important role as an organizer of the Liberation War. Although he was elected as a member of parliament three times, the recognition of his contribution to the language movement is still uncertain.
(2) Syed Matiur Rahman: Born in Srirampur village of Kamalganj upazila. He led the strike in various educational institutions of Moulvibazar during the February 21 incident. He then played a leading role in the education movement of '62, the mass uprising of '69, and the liberation war of '71. Although some organizations have honored him locally, he has not received any official recognition.
(3) Mofiz Ali: This militant leader from Dhupatila village of Patan Ushar union worked for the language movement as well as for protecting the rights of tea workers. Although the Kamalganj Upazila administration felicitated him in 2003, no further government initiatives were seen after that.
(4) Rasendra Dutta Chowdhury: This language soldier from Noagaon village in Srimangal was one of the leading figures in the Srimangal region. Although he played the role of an organizer in the Liberation War, his name did not appear in the list of freedom fighters due to narrow politics.
Reasons for not getting recognition:-
According to analysts, the government has not properly evaluated these language soldiers because they are not affiliated with any specific political party or due to the neglect of local political groups. However, despite the opening of roads, educational institutions, and scholarships in the names of language soldiers in other parts of the country, these four talented children of Moulvibazar have remained neglected.
Even after 73 years of the Language Movement, the lack of recognition for the contributions of these four brave freedom fighters is a major failure for our nation. There have been demands from various quarters to ensure their due dignity.
