February 21 is International Mother Language Day. It has been observed yearly since 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

It commemorates the killing of four students on February 21, 1952, because they campaigned to officially use their mother language, Bengali, in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages, and the 2019 Mother Language Day theme is “Indigenous languages matter for development, peace building and reconciliation.”