Partition irreparably damaged politics

The partition of Bengal in 1947 irreparably damaged the political arena  as well as the fields of literature and cultural activities, Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said at a public lecture yesterday.

"Politics was the main victim of the partition's aftermath. It divided the Communist Party, which faced repression in both Bengal," Prof Serajul said while delivering the memorial lecture named after late politician Kaniz Fatema Mohsina.

"The radical political stance that the party took in response alienated it from people," Prof Serajul observed.

Samaj-Rupantar Adhyan Kendra organised the lecture at Bangla Academy to mark the birth centenary of Somen Chanda, a famous writer and Marxist activist. In his honour, Prof Serajul's lecture was titled "Somen Chandar Eksho Bachhor".

The immediate aftermath of the Bengal partition was a massive process of resettlement as millions of Hindus and Muslims migrated from East to West Bengal and vice-versa. "Amidst all of this, political and social power went to nationalists' hands," he said.

The partition also affected the field of cultural activities and literature, he added. With Kolkata and Dhaka separated from each other, exchange of books and other cultural articles were interrupted.

During those times, West Bengal used to produce films of better standard. Following partition, these films became confined to West Bengal, severely damaging the film movement of East Bengal, from which it could not recover for a long time.

Kaniz Fatema Mohsina was  the first speaker and health minister of undivided Bengal, who passed away in 2016. She is the mother of Haidar Akbar Khan Rono, a presidium member of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and cultural activist Haider Anwar Khan Jhuno.

Former DU Bangla professor Ahmed Kabir presided over the programme.