21 February - Father Lini Day Vanuatu

 

Father Lini Day, celebrated on February 21 every year, is a public holiday in Vanuatu. The day commemorates a prominent figure in the history of this South Pacific nation — Father Walter Lini. Did you know that Father Lini was a priest? Yes, before he took charge as the first Prime Minister of the newly formed independent nation of Vanuatu, Father Lini was a ‘Raga’ Anglican priest. From his early days, he observed many injustices against his fellow islanders and wanted to make a difference.

One of the prominent personalities from Vanuatu was Father Lini, a former Anglican Priest. Given that Britain and France were jointly colonizing the island, his greatest worry was the selling of indigenous territory to outsiders. Father Lini founded the New Hebrides Cultural Association with the help of Donald Kalpokas, John Bani, and other islanders to bring about political reform and drive out the colonial forces. Through his association, he published mouthpiece articles that raised awareness of the importance of independence and ignited the minds of the populace. Later, this group evolved into a political movement that gave rise to the New Hebrides National Party — later known as the Vanua’aku Pati.

21 February - Armed Forces Day for the South Africa

 

Armed Forces Day for the South African National Defence Force is celebrated on 21 February, the day of the 1993 reconstitution of the South African Defence Force into its current identity. It has been celebrated with parades nationwide since 2012. Since 2017, the Armed Forces Day event also honors the fallen of the tragic 1917 sinking of SS Mendi, which carried South African forces into the frontlines during the First World War, resulting in one of the biggest military losses ever in South African military history.

21 February - Suryakant Tripathi "Nirala" born in 1897

 

Suryakant Tripathi "Nirala" (21 February 1897 – 15 October 1961) was an Indian poet, novelist, essayist and story-writer who wrote in Hindi. He was also an artist, who drew many contemporary sketches.

Tripathi was born on 21 February 1897 in Medinipur in Bengal.Nirala's father, Pandit Ramsahaya Tripathi, was a government servant and was a tyrannical person. His mother died when he was very young. Nirala was educated in the Bengali medium at Mahishadal Raj High School at Mahishadal, Purba Medinipur.Subsequently, he shifted to Lucknow and thence to village Gadhakola of Unnao district, to which his father originally belonged. Growing up, he gained inspiration from personalities like Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, and Rabindranath Tagore.

After his marriage at the age of 20, Nirala learned Hindi at the insistence of his wife, Manohara Devi. Soon, he started writing poems in Hindi, instead of Bengali. After a bad childhood, Nirala had a few good years with his wife. But this phase was short-lived as his wife died when he was 22, and later his daughter (who was a widow) also expired. Nirala lost half of his family, including his wife and daughter, in the 1918 Spanish flu influenza outbreak.

Most of his life was somewhat in the bohemian tradition. He wrote strongly against social injustice and exploitation in society. Since he was more or less a rebel, both in form and content, acceptance did not come easily. What he got in plenty was ridicule and derision. All this may have played a role in making him a victim of schizophrenia in his later life and he was admitted to Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi.

21 February - International Mother Language Day

 

International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999,it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 May 2007 in UN resolution 61/266,[3] which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages.The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 21 February is the anniversary of the day when the people of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) fought for recognition for the Bangla language.It is also celebrated in West Bengal, India.