Why did Bengal stop being ours?
I went through the article written by Enam Chowdhury about the ownership of the terms Bengali, Bangla and Bengal. Having fought our liberation war based on these terms, he is absolutely right in claiming that they belong to us culturally and historically.
In his historic speech at, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said, “Banglar mukti chai, Banglar manush bachte chai, Banglar manush tar adhikar chai,” finishing with “Joy Bangla.” Yet these slogans were banned after his death in 1975. BTV and Bangladesh Betar stopped airing these terms until Awami League came to power in 1996. Questions arise as to why they were not preserved as our national heritage. Why was Joy Bangla replaced with Bangladesh Zindabad? I will be very grateful if the writer could address these issues in another article, explaining his party's stance on these matters.
Shafiqur Rahman Khan
Dhaka
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