The lady who was arrested for honouring language martyrs

Women played a vital role in the Language Movement in Chattogram beside men at a time when it was not easy for them to come out of their houses breaking social barriers. One of them was Pratibha Mutsuddi, who later won the prestigious Ekushey Award.

She actively took part in the Language Movement in 1952 while she was a second-year student of Chattogram College. However, in 1948, as a student of class eight, she participated in protest rallies against the statement of Muhammad Ali Jinnah that Urdu to be the only state language of Pakistan.

At that time, she was a student of Mahamuni Edapali Institute in Raozan, Chattogram. Later, under the leadership of poet Mahbub-ul-Alam Chowdhury, she became an integral part of the movement along with fellow activists.

Regarding her participation in the Language Movement, she said, "I was a second-year student of Chattogram College in 1952. We came to know about the barbaric attack in Dhaka on 21 February afternoon. The students of Chattogram College held a protest rally the next day against the incident in Dhaka. The protest continued for about a week."

"At that time, the number of female students was very low. Only 3-4 female students participated in those processions in Chattogram," she added.

On 24 February 1952, all the students of Chattogram boycotted their classes and went on strike. On 28 February, more than 1,000 students participated in a procession in barefoot to commemorate the martyrdom of the students in Dhaka. Pratibha Mutsuddi was one of the female campaigners of the procession.

She was also involved in the movement after 1952. Her involvement in the movement intensified after being admitted at Dhaka University. She was arrested in 1955 during a procession against police in Dhaka. However, she was released after two weeks of imprisonment.

Recalling the incident, Pratibha Mutsuddi said, "I was busy with my studies as there was an examination in 1955. On the morning of 21 February, I got the news that police were not allowing the students to go to the Shaheed Minar as restriction was imposed on public movement in the whole area." 

"Upon receiving this news, some of our students rushed towards the Shaheed Minar. But the police did not let us in. At one stage, the police suddenly attacked the students and arrested some of them including me. We were sent first to Lalbagh police station and then to Dhaka Central Jail," she added.

In the academic year 1955-56, she was elected as the editor of Women Auditorium in the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) election. She was also the first elected vice-president of Rokeya Hall in 1956-1957.

Pratibha Mutsuddi was born on 16 December 1935 in Mahamuni village of Raozan, Chattogram.  Her father Kiran Bikash Mutsuddi was a lawyer and her mother Shailabala Mutsuddi was a housewife. Her school life began at Mahamuni Anglo Pali Institutions at the village.

Pratibha Mutsuddi passed BA Honours in Economics from Dhaka University in 1956 and Master's in 1959. She obtained her Bachelor of Education (Bed) degree from Mymensingh Female Teacher Training College in 1961. She started her career in 1961 as the head teacher at Cox's Bazar Girls High School. She joined Bharateshwari Homes as a lecturer in Economics in 1963, and was later promoted as a Vice Principal. She was the acting principal of the institute in 1965 and served as its principal from 1967 to 1999 with great success. She is currently working as the administrator and director of Kumudini Complex.

Pratibha Mutsuddi was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2001 for her contribution in education. She was also awarded Azizur Rahman Patwari Medal in 1987, Ananya Top Ten Award in 1995, Lion Nazrul Islam Education Gold Medal in 1997 and Paul Harris Fellow Award of the Rotary Foundation in 1998.

A TBS-Nagad initiative.