Silchar/Agartala, May 20 (IANS): Tributes were paid on Sunday to commemorate the death of 11 people who died in police firing on May 19, 1961 in Silchar during the Bengali language agitation.

People from all walks of life across all the three districts of Barak Valley -- Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi -- gathered at the Silchar railway station and paid their tributes.

On the occasion of 'Bhasa Swahid Diwas' (Language Martyrs Day), a large number of artists from Bangladesh and southern Assam performed a variety of cultural functions in the day-long commemorative celebrations.

On May 19, 1961, eleven youths, including a woman, died in police firing in Silchar railway station in southern Assam while demanding recognition of Bengali as their mother tongue and official language in Assam.

The Assam government ultimately gave official status to the Bengali language in the three districts of Barak Valley in 1961.

Several politicans and Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur also took part in the ceremony. Similar programmes were also held in Agartala.