Lack of Patriotic Activism in Bangladesh: Bengali Nationalism to Blame!
(A working Paper on Bangladesh's Nationalism)
Abid Bahar
True, Bangladeshis are still defining their identity after 1971. While Bangladeshi nationalists protests against Falani murder, Farakka dam, Tipaimukh dam by India, and giving transit to India without a national referendum, Bengali nationalists says in all these India is actually helping Bangladesh develop. To the Bengali nationalists, what is more important is the trial of the anti Indian, anti Bengali liberation war razakars and anti Mujib AL forces and personalities.To the Bengali nationalists, we shouldn't be against India, West Bengal and Tagore- the "touchstone of Bengali nationalism." To them if you are not a Bengali nationalist, you must be a razakar. From this perspective "Zia was the biggest razakar." Zia is accused of inventing Bangladeshi nationalism to include all the Bangladeshis including the tribals. So the benefits of Bengali and Bangladeshi nationalism came face to face with a head on collision through AL BNP debates that now divides the nation.
So Bengali nationalists celebrates Tagore in Dhaka and elsewhere as one of us. An unknown Indian however wrote about Bangladesh's Tagore mania. "Tagore is a touchstone for their new Bengali identity which raises heated passions and debate amongst them as they set out to prove that due to their
numerical "superiority" they are the true "Bengalis" and guardians / inheritors of Bengali culture and language. What they forget is that they are the dregs of Indian society who converted to Islam (through greed, fear or force). Rabindranath held no illusions about the potential of Bengalis and their propensity towards self-destructiveness, and commented on this in a letter to Leonard Elmhirst " [Pandit Vidyasagar] did good to others and received ingratitude and lack of cooperation in return. He saw day after day that we [Bengalis] begin but never finish; we make a show but do nothing concrete; we do not believe what we set out to do; what we believe we do not carry out; we spin out words without end, but cannot make the smallest sacrifice; we feel pleased with ourselves by exhibiting our pride, but never think it necessary to be worthy; we depend on others for everything and yet rend the skies finding
fault with them. We take pride in imitating others, we feel honoured to receive their favour, yet we throw dust in their eyes and call it politics; and the main object in our lives is to make clever speeches that fill us with intense admiration. *Vidyasagar had infinite contempt for this weak, mean, heartless, lazy, arrogant, argumentative race of men [Bengalis].*"
Mujib was truly" the greatest Bengali of all times." He delivered a great speech in 1971 then surrendered to the Pakistani army, when returned back claimed to be the father of the nation, then established one party rule and killed more than 30,000 of his own people and turned Bangladesh into a failed state and within a little more than 3 years of his Bengali nationalist rule through his cadre politics and Indian Rakhi bahini help his regime killed more than 30,000 of his own people and he was brutally killed by Bangladesh's freedom fighters,he must be the "greatest Bengali of all times" for accomplishing so many things in such a short period of time. About Mujib's famine and death of a million people it is noted, "by the end of 1974 almost all the foreign biscuits, blankets, clothes, etc.were seen in the Calcutta bazaars and foot path shops. India never imports any such foreign goods." The Bengalis of oper Bangla were eating the biscuits of aper Bangla. "These items crossed the border by the bosom friend of Bangabandhu -Ghazi Gholam Mostafa, the leader of the Red Cross (or Crescent)." The entire country was then passing through the famous man-made famine for which Amartya Sen wrote a book in 1974-1975 eras. Mujib administration never admitted such a famine while people ... of Rangpur or Dinajpur were arriving Dacca in search of job, food, clothes, shelter, etc. It was a painful scenario in those days throughout Bangladesh. What is the problem if we do not have Bangabandhu ( as the father of the nation ) who originated such mismanagement?"
Tagore wrote about Bengalis as a bunch of sissies ("shatkoti shontaner mugdho jononi, rekhecho bangali kore , manush koroni")
So what is better for Bangladesh? Let's make a choice between whether we would like to be Bengalis or Bangladeshis. Whether we would like to be Indian parrots or Bangladeshi patriots. When we see Tagore himself abandoned Bengali nationlism in favour of becoming an Indian,even when he worked against the establishment of Dhaka University. He composed his celebrated piece "Shivaji's Utsav" at that time and was inspired by the Shivaji Festival introduced by Maharashtra's Balgangadhar Tilak. Now Bangladesh is an independent nation, we would like to be the Indian domestic parrots like the Indian Bengalis celebrating Indian imperialism in Bangladesh through Tagore mania or we want to be Bangladeshis recognizing him as a great poet of humanity who hated the narrow spirited Bengali nationalists.
References:
(1) Chatro League http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUC5qix6xpE
(2) Tagore Exposed in Dalia
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brahmoconferenceorg/message/122 
(A working Paper on Bangladesh's Nationalism)
Abid Bahar
True, Bangladeshis are still defining their identity after 1971. While Bangladeshi nationalists protests against Falani murder, Farakka dam, Tipaimukh dam by India, and giving transit to India without a national referendum, Bengali nationalists says in all these India is actually helping Bangladesh develop. To the Bengali nationalists, what is more important is the trial of the anti Indian, anti Bengali liberation war razakars and anti Mujib AL forces and personalities.To the Bengali nationalists, we shouldn't be against India, West Bengal and Tagore- the "touchstone of Bengali nationalism." To them if you are not a Bengali nationalist, you must be a razakar. From this perspective "Zia was the biggest razakar." Zia is accused of inventing Bangladeshi nationalism to include all the Bangladeshis including the tribals. So the benefits of Bengali and Bangladeshi nationalism came face to face with a head on collision through AL BNP debates that now divides the nation.
So Bengali nationalists celebrates Tagore in Dhaka and elsewhere as one of us. An unknown Indian however wrote about Bangladesh's Tagore mania. "Tagore is a touchstone for their new Bengali identity which raises heated passions and debate amongst them as they set out to prove that due to their
numerical "superiority" they are the true "Bengalis" and guardians / inheritors of Bengali culture and language. What they forget is that they are the dregs of Indian society who converted to Islam (through greed, fear or force). Rabindranath held no illusions about the potential of Bengalis and their propensity towards self-destructiveness, and commented on this in a letter to Leonard Elmhirst " [Pandit Vidyasagar] did good to others and received ingratitude and lack of cooperation in return. He saw day after day that we [Bengalis] begin but never finish; we make a show but do nothing concrete; we do not believe what we set out to do; what we believe we do not carry out; we spin out words without end, but cannot make the smallest sacrifice; we feel pleased with ourselves by exhibiting our pride, but never think it necessary to be worthy; we depend on others for everything and yet rend the skies finding
fault with them. We take pride in imitating others, we feel honoured to receive their favour, yet we throw dust in their eyes and call it politics; and the main object in our lives is to make clever speeches that fill us with intense admiration. *Vidyasagar had infinite contempt for this weak, mean, heartless, lazy, arrogant, argumentative race of men [Bengalis].*"
Mujib was truly" the greatest Bengali of all times." He delivered a great speech in 1971 then surrendered to the Pakistani army, when returned back claimed to be the father of the nation, then established one party rule and killed more than 30,000 of his own people and turned Bangladesh into a failed state and within a little more than 3 years of his Bengali nationalist rule through his cadre politics and Indian Rakhi bahini help his regime killed more than 30,000 of his own people and he was brutally killed by Bangladesh's freedom fighters,he must be the "greatest Bengali of all times" for accomplishing so many things in such a short period of time. About Mujib's famine and death of a million people it is noted, "by the end of 1974 almost all the foreign biscuits, blankets, clothes, etc.were seen in the Calcutta bazaars and foot path shops. India never imports any such foreign goods." The Bengalis of oper Bangla were eating the biscuits of aper Bangla. "These items crossed the border by the bosom friend of Bangabandhu -Ghazi Gholam Mostafa, the leader of the Red Cross (or Crescent)." The entire country was then passing through the famous man-made famine for which Amartya Sen wrote a book in 1974-1975 eras. Mujib administration never admitted such a famine while people ... of Rangpur or Dinajpur were arriving Dacca in search of job, food, clothes, shelter, etc. It was a painful scenario in those days throughout Bangladesh. What is the problem if we do not have Bangabandhu ( as the father of the nation ) who originated such mismanagement?"
Tagore wrote about Bengalis as a bunch of sissies ("shatkoti shontaner mugdho jononi, rekhecho bangali kore , manush koroni")
So what is better for Bangladesh? Let's make a choice between whether we would like to be Bengalis or Bangladeshis. Whether we would like to be Indian parrots or Bangladeshi patriots. When we see Tagore himself abandoned Bengali nationlism in favour of becoming an Indian,even when he worked against the establishment of Dhaka University. He composed his celebrated piece "Shivaji's Utsav" at that time and was inspired by the Shivaji Festival introduced by Maharashtra's Balgangadhar Tilak. Now Bangladesh is an independent nation, we would like to be the Indian domestic parrots like the Indian Bengalis celebrating Indian imperialism in Bangladesh through Tagore mania or we want to be Bangladeshis recognizing him as a great poet of humanity who hated the narrow spirited Bengali nationalists.
References:
(1) Chatro League http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUC5qix6xpE
(2) Tagore Exposed in Dalia
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brahmoconferenceorg/message/122
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