Bangladesh today paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the language movement who sacrificed their lives on this day in 1952 during their struggle to get their mother tongue Bangla recognized as one of the official languages in then Pakistan. President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the nation in paying deep tributes to the martyrs of the historic language movement by placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka at one minute past midnight. Thousands of people in barefoot from all walks of life are thronging the Central Shaheed Minar to pay tribute to the Language Movement martyrs. On this day in 1952, students and people from all strata of society took to the streets in Dhaka to protest the then Pakistan government's refusal to recognize Bangla as one of the state languages and imposition of Urdu as the only official language of Pakistan. The Language Movement is considered to be the most important turning point in the country’s history as its spirit led to the independence of Bangladesh. The day has since been observed as the Language Martyrs Day and is now also observed as International Mother Language Day across the world. On November 17, 1999, the UNESCO declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day with the objective of promoting linguistic and cultural diversity in the world.