Abid Bahar
As if lovers renew their affection for each other daily with the use of baby talks like "Honey, Mushy-mushy, muffin" etc. so is the case of poets, artists, intellectuals and politicians serving their nation create in their works a sense of love and affection for their country through crafting illusion. In the end their love imitated by people turns into patriotism and their work help create a spirit of regeneration; of belongingness and in the end help people to avoid national amnesia.
It is true, despite many missteps by the successive Bangladesh governments; their records show that they made many small steps forward, which led Bangladesh to its slow pace of industrial development. Accompanying those changes however, life in Bangladesh is increasingly becoming mechanical. We may question what could be done to bring a sense of regeneration in Bangladesh. After all Bangladesh is a land of rivers that for centuries it's beauty poets admired so much. Bangladeshi people and governments can begin to make their mark by renaming Bangladesh place names.
It is not true that no steps were taken in this direction. We know Ershad took the first initiative. He changed the name of the capital from Dacca to Dhaka which was a total blunder and it shows Ershad's mind not in the present Bangladesh but in the colonial Bengal where the trend was to fix Bengali name in line with English. Whereas in India we see the opposite, Calcatta was renamed into Kolkata. There also has been a common trend to name places after our great leader Bangabandu or Ziaur Rahman, which is ok, but lately it is taking an unpleasant course of confrontation; causing the rise of partisan politics in Bangladesh. This exaggerated and mean-spirited approach dehumanizes them and goes entirely against the spirit of love for the country and its history. I believe that if we love our country, we should put an end to this trend.
In Singapore, places are named after great educationists, scientists and artists. How about naming Bangladesh with an eye to its history, to its intellectualist and its natural beauty? Not long ago India did it for its provinces with some help from poets like Rabi Tagore who devised names like Meghalay etc.. In the West they do it regularly and in Canada there are groups called Canadian Society for the Study of Names in which the present author is also a member. All these are to create illusion and the growth in consciousness and to appreciate its riches to develop patriotism. This is also one of the ways to see our dear motherland changing everyday but into its more beautiful metamorphosis.
Not long ago, India renamed Bombay in to Momboi, why not our beautiful Cox's Bazar originally was named after an English captain we now name it to Shopnopuri (dreamland), which is also the world's longest beach, but the Internet search shows some Indian websites calls it a terrorist spot, which I personally disagree.
Following the same spirit mentioned above, how about we call Banderbon which is about Monkeys as the Sabujbon.and Feni in Noakhali as it is an incomprehensible name as the Purborag; part of which extends into India. And Chagalnaya in Feni, originally was Shagornaiya to rename it back again as Shagornaiya. In Chittagong, how about Hathazari to name it as Bishoborenou Yonuspur after the famed Dr. Yonus. He did his first experiment in Hathazari. This is naming the place after the name of an intellectual.
Historically speaking, Chittagong for sometime was under the occupation of the Arakanese kingdom; in our time we still hear xenophobic Arakanese Burmese leaders talking about their claim that Chittagong belings to them. It is about time that we rename places in Chittagong. Ramu in Chittagong, was originally an Arakanese name but Shah Suja, the then govornor of Bengal before his ill-fated journey to Arakan stayed in Ramu and journeyed to Arakan. In Arakan he was brutally murdered with his entire family. Suja's uncle Shaista Khan to revenge the massacre fought against the Arakanese and recaptured Chittagong in a battle in Fote gao, now called (corrupt) Potenga.. He finally annexed it with Bengal. How about we rename Ramu as Suja Nagar and Teknaf the last point of Bangladesh as the Shainta Nagar?
Thekher Pahar in Chittagong Hill Tracts is the last point of Bangladesh. How about we name it as the Bhasani Pahar; Maulana Bhasani the selfless leader who lived like a Bengali peasant, fought against the British, against Pakistan and Indian aggression, being one of the tallest images to fight for independence. How about we name it after him, and another tallest of the spots the Chimbuker Pahar as the Sheikh Mujib Pahar? How about we rename Mogh bazaar in Dhaka, the place where the Mogh pirates committed so many of their crimes into Zia bazaar?
Finally, Chotogram, a name known to be given by the Arakanese, Queen Elizabeth once in her visit during the 60's called Chittagong as the queen of the East and now how about we rename it as Chattola?
One last thing to say about renaming place names in Bangladesh that in this exercise we should never bring the issue of politics but of only the issues that binds us
together, the love of our country we call SONAR BANGLADESH and its beauty.
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