dray
BANNED
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 10,853
- Reaction score
- -1
- Country
- Location
Since West Bengal is now officially called 'Bangla' I will call it Bangla.
80% of Bangla people have Bangladesh roots. Bangla people fled Bangladesh to India due to religious persecution of radical Jamaatis / fundamentalists. These people are called 'Bangal' (In Hindi it means land of Bengal but in Bengali the word is used to refer people of Bangladesh land, so two different meaning). @Rain Man 's family was one of such unfortunate family who got kicked of from Bangladesh at the time of partition. Its really sad. So they are always uncomfortable talking about the past. India sheltered Bangal people in Bangla and they are very thankful to India for this reason. Its our fault that we didn't keep our own people in our country but it doesn't mean they are not Bangladeshi.
Bangladesh is not a new name. The whole Bengal was one time called Bangladesh. Ask your Bengali friends if I am wrong. Still people of Bangla (West Bengalis) call 'Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol' (Bangla's soil, Bangla's water), not Bharoter Mati, Bharoter Jol.
There is a popular proverb in Bangla. 'What Bangla thinks today India thinks tomorrow.' Here they themselves make a distinction between Bangla and India.
When I say Bangla is de facto Bangladesh I am not wrong or exaggerating.
80% of Bengalis are not from the part of India that later became East Pakistan and then Bangladesh, that's a huge exaggeration.
All the Bengalis are basically Indians, after the partition some were fortunate to have their land within India only, and then there were many who had their homes on the other side of the border in the newly created country on bigoted religious lines, they suddenly had a new false nationality. Some had no option but to accept it, some moved on to this part of the border, and many were forced out without any chance to at least sell their ancestral properties, and that process of stealing others' land and property in Bangladeshi started even before the partition, and still continuing.
BTW, my families left their ancestral homes when those were parts of India only, that is before the partition, though it was not a very peaceful or desired way of leaving ones ancestral home, but at least we didn't have to accept any foreign nationality even for a day, we were always Indians.