Dhaka, Feb. 21 -- Clad in white and black attires with flowers in hand, each step they took radiated pride in preserving the honour of their mother tongue. As dawn broke on Feb 21, all paths converged on the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.

Bangladeshis are remembering the Language Movement heroes who sacrificed their lives in demanding Bangla as a state language of Pakistan in 1952 before independence.

People began flocking to the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka and other memorials up and down the country on Wednesday to pay homage to the martyrs.

Barefooted, they carried flowers in their hands and the immortal line -- "'Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano Ekushey February, Ami Ki Bhulite Pari' (Can I forget the twenty-first of February/ incarnad...