Last week, our community mourned the loss of a wonderful, award-winning poet, author and journalist, Iqbal Hasan. A creative writer, a storyteller, Iqbal Hasan loved writing poetry. His literary works explored the complexities of the human experience and often dealt with themes of love, loss, displacement and identity. Through his words, he talked about his roots within his motherland as well as the struggles of day-to-day life as an immigrant.

In one of his interviews, he described the loneliness after leaving one’s birthplace saying, [Remarks in Bengali]. Speaker, he really had a way with his words.

Iqbal Hasan’s contribution to Bengali literature, both in Canada, Bangladesh and around the globe, has been significant, with over 50 published works to his name. It is a testament to his talent that he was recognized with the prestigious Syed Waliullah award by the Bangla Academy in 2014.

I had the opportunity to get to know him over the past years. In fact, he sat right here in the members’ gallery just a few years ago when we passed then-MPP Percy Hatfield’s bill to establish the Poet Laureate of Ontario. He was filled with joy seeing such admiration for poetry by our province.

The passing of poet Iqbal Hasan has left a void in the literary world. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones. He will remain an integral part of the Bengali literary community and his legacy will continue to inspire future generations of writers.

Around the world the 21st of February, or Ekushey February, is recognized as International Mother Language Day, to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to uphold multiculturalism. It is also an important day to reflect on the sacrifices made to preserve Bangladeshi and Bengali people’s unique cultural identity. On this day, 71 years ago, language martyrs, or bhasha shohids, lost their lives protesting the oppressive regime that prohibited Bangla from being used as an official language. Their sacrifice, their fight and the movement for their mother tongue was heard across the world, sparking International Mother Language Day.

As the MPP and long-time resident of an incredibly diverse and multilingual community, I know how important language access is to our community members and how empowering and essential it is for people to have information and services in their native languages.

I would like to thank the United Committee for Observance of Ekushey and International Mother Language Day, who put together an incredible commemoration at Dentonia Park last night at midnight. I also want to thank the Language Access Coalition, who are currently hosting their annual Language Advocacy Day conference to continue championing this issue.

Let’s all work together to preserve our languages and continue advocating for language access across Ontario and build an equitable province for all.