Minister for Minority Affairs, Mr. Salman Khurshid has called for the preservation and promotion of languages belonging to linguistic minorities in view of the UNESCO report that in India 126 languages are in danger of disappearing. <br/><br/>He said this while inaugurating a one-day conference in New Delhi. Mr. Khurshid said such a challenge can be met by developing and adopting mother tongue as medium of instruction in primary schools across the country.<br/><br/>It is to be noted that he International Mother Language Day is being observed today. The Day is observed yearly by UNESCO member states and at its headquarters to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. <br/><br/>It is commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952 where a number of Dhaka university students were killed by the Pakistani police and army during the Bangla Language Movement. In Dhaka, thousands thronged a monument erected in memory of those martyrs, considered to have sown the seeds of independence 58 years ago.<br/><br/>In West Bengal, the main function was held at Petrapole and Banepole border point along Indo-Bangladesh border. The State Ministers, Mr. Abdur Razzak Mollah and Mrs. Rekha Goswami and member of National Assembly of Bangladesh, Sheikh Asiruddin and distinghished persons paid floral tributes to the language martyrs.