On January 27th, 1952, the new Prime Minister Khwaja Nazimuddin announced at Paltan Maidan that Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan. In protest, the language movement started anew. On February 21st, it was decided to hold hartals, public meetings and protest processions across the country. Suddenly, East Pakistan Chief Minister Nurul Amin imposed section 144 in Dhaka city and banned all kinds of meetings, rallies, and demonstrations. As soon as the government made the announcement, tension spread in Dhaka.

The students could not accept Section 144 at all. On the evening of 20 February, a meeting of the All-Party State Language Action Council was held at the central office of the Awami Muslim League. The meeting presided over by Abul Hashim disagreed with the decision to disobey Section 144. Although most of the members were not in favor of disobeying Section 144 initially, leaders like Abdul Matin, Oli Ahad, and Golam Mahbub were adamant in their decision to defy Section 144. Finally, it was decided to break Section 144. On 21 February, at 11 am, a gathering of students at Amtala (now Dhaka Medical College premises) turned into a sea of people. Thousands of students from schools and colleges in Dhaka city took part in the rally. Some leaders requested the students not to violate Section 144. However, the student leaders stuck to this decision. At the meeting, the students decided to break Section 144 by marching in small groups. When the students were marching with the slogan 'State Language Bangla', the police lathi-charge them and fired tear gas. Abdus Salam, Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, and Abdul Jabbar were killed in the gunfight. Mass protests began the next day on February 22 in protest of the barbaric killings. The crowd took out mourning processions for the martyrs. Again, the police and military used batons, bullets and bayonets in the procession. Several people including Shafiur Rahman were martyred. Many have been arrested. At the place where the students were shot, the students stayed up all night and built a memorial or Shaheed Minar on February 23. Later, the police demolished the Shaheed Minar.