KARACHI: ‘International Mother Language Day’ will be observed with the theme of ‘towards sustainable futures through multilingual education’ on February 21, 2017. The mother language day was first announced by UNESCO on November 17, 1999 and is an annual event since then. The date represents the day, 21st February 1952, when four young students were killed in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, because of Bengali and Urdu language controversy. To foster sustainable development, learners must have access to education in their mother tongue and in other languages. It is through the mastery of the first language – or mother tongue – that the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy are acquired. On 16 May 2007, the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution, called upon state member to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by the world’s population. By the same resolution, the general assembly proclaimed 2008 as ‘International Year of Languages’, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world, while inspiring solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.