ABVP to observe Sep 20 as 'Matribhasha Dibas' in West Bengal

The West Bengal unit of the BJP's student's wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, will observe September 20 as "Matribhasha Dibas" (Mother Tongue Day) across the state in the memory of the two students who died during a stir in Uttar Dinajpur's Darivit on the day last year.

An ABVP spokesperson told reporters here on Wednesday that the students' body will observe September 20 as "Matribhasha Dibas" every year from now on to commemorate the deaths of Tapas Barman and Rajesh Sarkar.

Programmes will be organised at Kolkata, Siliguri, Darvit in North Dinajpur district where the two had died in alleged police firing and in the colleges where ABVP has organisational strength, he said.

The two died during an agitation at Darivit High School over recruitment of teachers.

While the state police had denied that it opened fire on the protesters, the TMC government had claimed it to be a handiwork of "outsiders".

"The two students laid down their lives during an agitation over language. They are martyrs who will be remembered by the students of West Bengal," he said.

The International Mother Language Day is observed worldwide on February 21 in memory of five people who felled to Pakistan Army bullets in erstwhile East Pakistan during an agitation demanding that Bengali be made an official language of the country besides Urdu.