Dhaka, Feb. 21 -- UNESCO's decision to adopt February 21 as the International Mother Language Day in 1999 marked a degree of global recognition for a day in 1952 which proved to be a turning point in Bangali history. What was till then a linguistic demand for Bangla to be accepted as a state language of Pakistan along with Urdu - a demand that was successful ultimately in 1956 - led to a broader movement in East Bengal under the leadership of Maulana Bhashani of the Awami League. Other instances of discrimination practised by the western wing of Pakistan against the eastern wing, primarily in matters of the extraction and redistribution of economic resources; and in the inequitable distribution of political power, resulted in the Six-Poin...