Central Shaheed Minar/Central Martyr Monument is a national monument or testament located in the University of Dhaka premises which was established in memory of the Mother Language Martyrs who were killed on 21st February, 1952 by Pakistani Police Force. The language movement was started on December, 1947 when the central leaders and the Urdu-speaking intellectuals of Pakistan declared that Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan, just as Hindi was the state language of India. However, the students & the intellectuals of East Pakistan demanded for Bengali must be the official language and the medium of instruction in East Pakistan where Bengali would be one of the state languages along with Hindi & Urdu for the central government. The first movement on this issue was started by Tamaddun Majlish, later various organizations & individuals like students, teachers, service holders joined the movement and gradually it became a mass movement when more organizations and individuals joined into the movement.

The important dates in the language movement was December 6, 1947; the first Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad (Language Action Committee) was formed on that day by the East Pakistani students when they became agitated with the news that Central Government of Pakistan took the initiative to make Urdu the only state language of Pakistan.

On 23rd February 1948, it was proposed that the members would have to speak either in Urdu or in English at the Assembly. Following these incidents, a general strike took place in the towns of East Pakistan on March 11, 1948 as a protest against the omission of Bangla from the languages of the Constituent Assembly, the absence of Bangla letters in Pakistani coins and stamps, and the use of only Urdu in recruitment tests for the navy. The movement continued for 3 more years along with several incidents connected with the language issue and by the beginning of 1952 it took a serious turn when Khwaja Nazimuddin was addressing a meeting in Paltan Maidanand said that the people of the province could decide what would be the provincial language, but only Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan. In instant negative reaction the students responded with the slogan 'Rashtrabhasha Bangla Chai' (We want Bangla as the state language). Later in January 31st 1952, an All-Party Central Language Action Committee was formed&decided to call a hartal and organize demonstrations and processions on February 21 throughout East Pakistan when the government of Pakistan offered their final proposal that Bangla could be written in Arabic script.

As preparations for protests were in progress, the government of Pakistan imposed Section 144 in the city of Dhaka, banning all assemblies and demonstrations. On 20th February 1952, a meeting of the Central Language Action Committee was held and the opinion was divided in to whether or not to violate Section 144.

The students were determined to violate Section 144 and held a student meeting at 11 AM on 21st February on the Dhaka University Premises, near to the Medical College Hospital. Thousands of students from different schools and colleges and individuals assembled on the university campus while armed police waited outside at the gate. When the students emerged in groups, shouting slogans; at first the police attempted baton charge and then they fired upon the crowd of students, who were continuing towards the Assembly Hall where three students, one peon and a child got killed. Later on 22nd February which was also a day of public demonstrations and police reprisals, the public performed a janaza(prayer service for the dead) and brought out a mourning procession, which was attacked by the police and the army resulting in several deaths. A memorial was established on February 23rd1952, at the spot where the students had been killed. The first monument was a small structure on a base of 12 feet height and 6 feet width. Later it got a new look and re inaugurated on 21st February, 1963 by Hasina Begum, mother of one great Martyr named Barkat who was killed in 1952.

The East Bengal Legislative Assembly approved a resolution recommending the recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan and the movement continued until 1956. The movement achieved its goal by forcing the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in adopting both Bangla and Urdu as the state languages of Pakistan.

Every year on 21st February, people show their gratitude and respect to the martyrs of language movement by singing language movement songs, placing flower on the Central Shaheed Minar. On November 17, 1999 UNESCO announced 21st February to be held worldwide as International Mother Language day to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.