Magharebia

Algerian students are commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the "Amazigh Spring", which falls on Friday (April 20th).

In Algiers on Wednesday, university students from Tebessa, Batna, Boumerdes, Tizi Ouzou, Bouira, Bejaia, Setif, Chlef and Bordj Bou Arreridj rallied to remember the 1980 security crackdown on hundreds of Kabylie activists and demand formal recognition of the Amazigh language, El Watan reported.

"We are a pluralistic and democratic Algeria. We are for linguistic diversity. We stand for justice, equality and dignity. To erase a language is a crime," Bouzaréah student Mouloud said.

Commemorations began Tuesday in the Kabylie region. In Bouira, students at Mohand Akli Oulhadj University honoured late Amazigh activist Nour Ould Amara. His widow Samia Bensalem came from Paris to address a packed auditorium about her husband's struggle for Tamazight, La Depeche de Kabylie reported.

A student who travelled from Tizi-Ouzou for the tribute said he was "weary of marches that yield nothing".

"It is time for our generation to concentrate on concrete actions that will make the Tamazight language inevitable in our country," he said.