A teenage language hero who spread the movement to rural areas

The people of then East Bengal began to resent the Muslim League government within a year of the creation of Pakistan in 1947. The anti-government movement touched the teenage mind of AKM Emdadul Islam who was a ninth-grader at Fatikchhari Coronation High School at that time.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah's bragging at a public meeting in Dhaka on 21 March 1948 that the state language of Pakistan was going to be Urdu and no other language prompted Emdadul to directly participate in the Language Movement.

In his college life, Emdadul Islam became associated with left-wing politics and played an active role in the Language Movement.

He built a relationship with Mahbub Ul Alam Chowdhury, convener of Chittagong District Rashtrabhasha Sangram Parishad. After Emdadul was elected a member of the district unit of the organisation, he was entrusted with the responsibility of organising the Language Movement in the educational institutions in nearby areas of Fatikchhari and Nazirhat colleges.

It was decided that the nationwide student strike called on 21 February 1952 would be enforced in Chattogram as well. And when the news of the tragedy in Dhaka – deaths of several protesting students in police and army attacks – reached Chattogram, the protest spread like wildfire throughout the city.

The following day, Emdadul led a procession from Momin Road to Laldighi ground in the city and held a rally at the ground. He also joined a public meeting at Laldighi ground on 25 February. At that public meeting, AK Khan, a member of the then Constituent Assembly, was forced to resign and address the gathering of more than 2,000 people.

The decisive defeat of the ruling Muslim League in the 1954 provincial assembly elections, giving Bangla the status of one of the state languages, construction of Shaheed Minar in memory of the 21 February martyrs, establishment of the Bangla Academy, recognition of Bangla in education, and the establishment of Bangla College for providing higher education in Bangla imbued the spirit of autonomy in the minds of Bangalee youths and inspired them to build greater unity and take oaths in the struggle for rights with a renewed vigour.

And Emdadul Islam played an important role behind all these achievements as he worked tirelessly and with utmost sincerity, concentration, and dedication to organise the youths in mufassal towns and even in villages.

A lawyer by profession, he was at the forefront of all mass movements in Chattogram, including the ones against dictatorship and communalism. He was also active in the Liberation War.

In an interview given on 28 February 2008, the language veteran said one must first show respect for one's own language and country. He said a nationalist consciousness is never created in an individual if they do not have love for their motherland and its people.

AKM Emdadul Islam was born on 18 May 1933 in Imamnagar village under Fatikchhari upazila of Chattogram. In 1950, he passed his entrance examination from Fatikchhari Coronation High School.

He joined left-wing politics in his college life. In 1955, he was elected general secretary to the Nazirhat College unit of Chhatra Sangsad. He passed his BA (Bachelor of Arts) from Chittagong College in 1958. That same year, he went into hiding after Ayub Khan imposed martial law.

Earlier in 1957, he was the president of the Chattogram district chapter and vice-president of the central committee of Chhatra Union. In the 1950s, he also joined the Juba League and the banned Communist Party.

He obtained LLB in 1963 under Dhaka University and joined the legal profession in Chattogram court two years later.

Earlier, while in hiding, Emdadul Islam taught at Nangalmora High School and Katirhat High School in north Chattogram as an assistant teacher.

A man with a colourful political life, Advocate Emdadul Islam was lastly associated with the Oikya National Awami Party. He previously was a Presidium member of Ganoforum and also served the party as the president of the Chattogram district north.

He passed away on 29 January 2017 at the age of 84 in a private hospital in the port city.

A TBS-Nagad initiative.