As students trickled into Punch’s Alley on the evening of Feb. 21, they were greeted by the wafting aroma of “Cha” and the cheerful banter of surrounding students. They were attending the International Mother Language Day Coffeehouse event, hosted annually by Wellesley’s Bangladeshi Students Association (BSA). The event was held in collaboration with Cafe Hoop as part of BSA’s efforts to uplift student-run cooperatives on campus. 

International Mother Language Day is celebrated annually on Feb. 21 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity. It was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999 to commemorate the Bangla Language Movement, wherein Bangladeshis fought for the recognition of their mother tongue, Bangla. This movement began when the Pakistani government implemented a policy that made Urdu the official language of the country, even though the majority of East Pakistan’s population spoke in Bangla. What followed were mass protests, and on Feb. 21, 1952, police opened fire on student protesters; two decades later, East Pakistan gained independence and became what is now known as Bangladesh, or Land of Bangla. 

Wellesley’s BSA commemorated the event by inviting students to showcase the beauty of their mother tongues and cultural heritage through a performance of their choice. Performances ranged from traditional dances to spoken words to songs. Performances were given in a range of languages, such as Bangla, Urdu, Creole, Spanish, Chinese and Korean. At the end of the performances, the mic was open to the rest of the audience, underscoring the warm and welcoming nature of the event. 

The Wellesley News spoke with Alisha Shahriar ’25 and Samihath Zaman ’25, co-presidents of the BSA and coordinators of the event. They spoke about how the 1952 event was such a catalyst for Bangladeshi independence and how they hoped to honor that through this annual event. 

Zaman said that Coffeehouse is “what you feel most comfortable with. People can sing, they can do poetry, they can dance to songs in their mother tongues or the languages that they feel most comfortable with.” 

She explained that at her first Coffeehouse she talked about how much she enjoyed BSA in the open mic portion, and how she truly appreciated being culturally immersed in the space and hearing people speak Bangla. 

BSA has become an integral part of Shahriar and Zaman’s Wellesley community. They both have been on e-board since first-year, when they joined the organization and realized what an important space it was. The organization hosts various events throughout the year, including lectures, collaborations with other organizations — Wellesley or otherwise —  and fun bonding events, but Coffeehouse is the main event they do annually every year; it has become a staple BSA is very proud of. 

Shariar thinks this year was their biggest turnout, something BSA is very proud of. They also saw new forms of expression this year, especially with dances. 

They also introduced “Cha” for the first time, which they think people enjoyed. Overall, they described the atmosphere as positive and happy.

“I think a lot of people mentioned that there was a sense of joy that could be felt,” Shariar said. 

Shahriar and Zaman hope that this inspires more people to come to Coffeehouse next year, but also to overall promote cultural understanding and community on campus. 

“I would encourage anybody, no matter how confident you feel speaking another language, if you have something that you’d like to share or a language that feels especially important to you, we’d love to hear about it,” Shariar said. 

Zaman concluded by pointing out the importance of cultivating spaces for everyone to feel comfortable to share their culture: “I’m glad, through the Coffeehouse and through other BSA events, we have tried our best to do it, to create a safe space for everyone to share … it’s really beautiful.”

Contact the editor responsible for this story: Hira Khan