Abdul Jabbar
Encyclopedia
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
(currently Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
).
Jabbar was born on 26 Ashwin of 1326 Bangla at the village of Panchua under the Gaffargaon thana of Mymensingh
Mymensingh
Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...
district. He was the son of Hasan Ali and Safatun Nesa. Although he received his primary education in the local educational institution called pathsala (Dhopaghat Krishibazar Primary School), he failed to continue his education owing to poverty. Besides, he had to help his father with agriculture. But Jabbar was not satisfied, and he left home to seek his fortune. He went to Narayanganj
Narayanganj
Narayanganj is a city in central Bangladesh. It is located in the Narayanganj District, near the capital city of Dhaka and has a population of 220,000. The city is on the bank of the Shitalakshya River. The river port of Narayanganj is one of the oldest in Bangladesh...
by train and met an Englishman who helped him to get a job in Burma (currently Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
). He returned home after twelve years of service in Burma.
On his return from Myanmar, Jabbar organized a village defense group with boys from the neighborhood and led the group as its commander. In 1949 he married Amina Khatun, one of his friends’ sister and settled down. One and a half year after the marriage, Amina had a baby boy, who was named Nurul Islam Badol.
A night before the historical incident of February 21, Jabbar came to Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
to get his mother-in-law, a cancer patient, admitted into the Dhaka Medical College. On February 21, the huge procession and agitation of the students for the language movement made Jabbar interested to join them. Thus he participated in one of the rallies in which police opened fire. Abdul Jabbar was severely hurt by a bullet and was later admitted into Dhaka Medical College. He fought with death for a day and died in the following night. He was awarded Ekushey Padak
Ekushey Padak
Ekushey Padak is one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Language Movement of 1952 that took place on February 21, 1952.-2001:*Shah Abdul Karim...
, the highest state level recognition in Bangladesh, in the year 2000 after UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
announced February 21 as the International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day is an observance held annually on 21 February worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999...
.