The Modern Bengalees: Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow

Submitted by A.B.M. Shamsud Doulah (Bangladesh), Mar 20, 2011 at 01:37

The Bengalees are a big population in the world. But they have so

many peculiar characters, pastimes, tastes, traits, attitudes, customs and practice, shortsightedness, religious beliefs, customs and practice, and, above all, even in their regional spoken languages, I mean various regional Bengali dialects in every 50 miles. No other single linguistic people and race in the modern world are having so many varieties. Of course, there are many historic reasons for such so many peculiar varieties.

There existed no 'standard Bengali' before the coming of the British Raj in India. It is the Britishers who standardize the Bengali language. We all know about it, but never talk about it.

The Britishers raised a 'Babu Class' in and around Calcutta, mostly

consisting (up to 80%) of the Brahmins or pseudo Brahmins. The majority of Hindu population of the greater Calcutta never welcomed the non-Brahmins from outside Calcutta.

After the 1947 Partition of India many (up to 10 million or more) Hindus migrated to the greater Calcutta areas from the then East Pakistan. Due to immediate political reasons and at the instance of Delhi, these migrants had to be absorbed in the West Bengal population. Most of the then existing Calcutta Hindus never welcomed the 'refugees' from the then East Pakistan.

Subsequently, it was found that the Calcutta population was threatened by the over-population of the 'refugees' from then East Pakistan. At the pressure of the West Bengal Chief Minister Dr. B. C. Roy, many refugees were settled in various parts of India.

Most of these redistributed East Pakistan refugees by now after 60 years have turned virtually non-Bengalees living in Delhi, Mumbai, or Chennai. They mostly adopted Hindi as their first language.

But it is interesting to note that millions of the Bengalees lived in Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand provinces of India for centuries but never changed their first language Bengali into any other language. This is another subject, therefore, I skip.

It is notable that even today the Hindu majority population of Calcutta do not welcome the Bengalee population (of West Bengal) from outside greater Calcutta.

At present, they still do not accept the new generations / successors of the former 'refugees' from the then East Pakistan. Primarily, being dissatisfied with role of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, leading to partition of India in 1947 and impliedly non-amalgamation of 'liberated' Bangladesh, the former 'refugees' from the then East Pakistan, now living greater Calcutta make hostile criticism of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and other such political leaders. But strangely they do not point out their finger towards Dr. Shyama Prasad Muhersjee, the Hindu Bengalee pivot for the 1947 partition of Bengal.Such melancholic nostalgic emotions

are very common amongst the 'refugees' and migrants all over the world. I have seen many such persons in the United States, a hub of immigrants.

I shall highly appreciate if some readers give thought to the above subject sincerely without being subjected to emotion and sentiment.

Yours truly,

A.B.M. Shamsud Doulah

G.P.O. Box 351

Dhaka-1000

Bangladesh

Email: shamsuddoulah@yahoo.com

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