Thanks brother.
Your thoughts and praise are appreciated.
Yes homogeneity is an asset.
West Bengal culture is accepted because they themselves have accepted our culture too (we are larger as a population group). Many ex-Bangladeshi Hindus have moved into India for better job prospects and they are our cultural ambassadors.
Welcome !
We in Pakistan, watch in awe and admiration as Bangladesh grows and outstrips us all in GDP, and Human Social Development Indices.
Your secular nationalism and deep cultural pride is a great factor. You are ONE people, ONE nation with ONE identity. Except for Bhutan and
Maldives every South Asian country is riven with religious, tribal, ethnic, linguistic tensions. Even Nepal has a Madhesi (Hindi speaking Indian origin Hindus) problem. Some countries like Sri Lanka have overcome their religious ethnic problems but at a huge cost. Bangladesh has solved its Chakma problem at minimal cost, and expertly blunted the challenges to its stability both from religious fundamentalism and left wing extremism such as the Sarbohara movement. With a robust implementation of social development programs Bangladesh is developing a gender neutral workforce with empowerment of women in the manpower resource pool.
Bangladesh's geography is unique with an extensive network of waterways, rich fertile delta soil, and excellent ports, both riverine and ocean. Above all Bangladesh has no strategic importance to big power rivalries ( a curse my nation has to live with). Apart from your religiously surcharged neighbor whom you can easily handle, you have no existential threats or danger of aggression.
Bangladesh and its people are blessed with peace and stability,
Stability and an educated workforce attract investment, Billions of dollars of investment are pouring in to make Bangladesh a pharmaceutical and textile manufacturing hub as well as a fast emerging IT sector, Your country is the next emerging Asian tiger,
Bangladeshis as a population group have always been open and accepting of outside influence culturally, which is reflected by the many borrowed words in our language which came from Arab, Portuguese, Spanish and English traders.
Well said ! Absolutely true .
As your social economic development progresses, it is but natural that your society will integrate globally sharing its culture abroad through its diaspora while at the same time changing somewhat by absorbing elements of the cultures of other nations through which there is interaction of trade and commerce. This happens wherever there is economic progress. Singapore Malaysia, Dubai are examples as is Turkey, and South Korea, Of course the best example is China. National chauvinism beyond a certain point becomes counter productive.,
West Bengal culture is accepted because they themselves have accepted our culture too (we are larger as a population group).
I have a slightly different view point.
Will be delicate and restrained in differing with you here. There are two types of West Bengalis, The common peasant, boatman, honey gatherer in the
bon is almost identical in culture to his ( or her) Bangladeshi counterpart and differs only in religion. These Bengali Dalits speak no other language, and bear no ill-will towards their counterparts across the border, and in fact wonder why the border is there at all. Then there is the other type; the Kolkata
bhadralok . Upper class, affluent, highly educated, sophisticated, multi-lingual, and of course upper caste; they have a very different opinion of Bangladeshis, a linguistic and cultural affinity notwithstanding. Their communal Hindutva mindset translates into a contempt for Muslims both within India, and especially for the Muslims of Bangladesh. Not that their upper caste superiority complex spares their Dalit Indian Bengali fellow citizens either, but even their Hindu brethren in Bangladesh are dubbed with a contemptuous epithet that I shall not repeat here.
However I can't condemn the
Bhadralok on their pride in preserving and developing Bengali culture, We have to give the devil its due,
I deeply apologize if I am offending, but on cultural development of Bengali language, literature, art and music West Bengal does stand ahead of Bangladesh. I may be ill informed but I have yet to see a Badal Sircar, Jhumpa Lahiri, Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray from Bangladesh, even though in the past you had Nazrul Islam ( died in Dhaka), Atul Sen, and Michael Madhusudan Dutt. For that matter the bhadralok have done extremely well in science and technology with scientists like S.N.Bose and others.
As a kid fond of DXing I used to tune into Calcutta ( old name ) Radio on short wave ( if anyone knows what that means.
I would hear the chant:
"Banglar Matir, Banglar Jol,
Banglar Vayu Banglar Phol,
Dhanne Ho Dhanne Ho,
Hey Bhagowan ! "
Here is the difference, Bangladeshis are looking to the future. The
Bhadralok are looking constantly to the past.