Pohela
Falgun
By
Durdana Ghias
This
year once again we are going to celebrate the first day of spring
Pohela Falgun. Spring or Boshonto consists of two months Falgun and
Choitra. We celebrate the first day of Falgun to welcome Boshonto,
the season of flowers and all the vibrant colours.
The
advent of Falgun wipes away the dry and chilling elements of winter
with a subtle touch of warmness. But how much do we know about Pohela
Falgun apart from this that the girls roam around the DU campus wrapping
themselves up in striking colours and that it is a great day for the
love birds?
According
to the history of Mughal period Emperor Akbar started the Bengali
year in 1585 AD with the intention of collecting revenue by following
the solar year. At that time nowroz or the first day of the Bengali
year was celebrated with great enthusiasm. Emperor Akbar who was secular
in nature abolished all Muslim festivals and introduced fourteen new
festivals for the new Bengali year.
The
names of the months were not like the present form at that time. It
is not known exactly when they became Boiskakh, Jaishthya etc. but
all these names were derived from the names of the stars.
The
name Falgun came from the star Falguni. The reason behind the naming
after starts is that in the Vedic Age (1500 BC) the rishis (ancient
Indian scholars) had an obsession with astrology and the stars. Though
they use to follow the solar year the mention of Falguni (spring)
full moon in Vedic Literature suggests that lunar months were also
calculated. Probably the traditional inclination of the rishis to
the moon and stars led to the naming of the months after stars.
The
significance of Pohela Falgun is very singular in our national life.
The way we celebrate Pohela Boishakh and Pohela Falgun in Bangladesh
these days started to flourish after the arousal of Bengali Nationalism
in 1950s and 1960s.
After
the Language Movement people of East Pakistan started to celebrate
festivals which were related to the Bengali culture silently defying
the anti-Bengali attitude of the then Pakistan Government.
Cultural
bodies and general people started celebrating these events with Tagore
songs which was banned in 1960s. So celebrating Pohela Falgun was
not for having fun only at that time. It was a display of our nationalism.
In
the pre-independence period these days worked as a way to flaunt Bengali
Nationalism. Unfortunately fundamentalist elements are still in full
swing in our country to spoil our national spirit. So it is time again
that we start celebrating Pohela Falgun with a renewed enthusiasm
with which it was celebrated in the pre-independence period.
The
days Pohela Falgun and Boishakh are our two efforts at warding off
fundamentalist and anti- nationalistic forces.
These
two days are parts of our National Heritage and National History like
the Independence Day, the Victory Day and the Language Martyrs Day.
These
are meant not for fashion conscious people and love birds only. These
days were and are a way to protest fundamentalism, a way to defy racist
bans and to protect our national pride and glory.
The
standsill...
By
Taskin Rahman
Bangladesh,
dismayed by an Indian decision not to attend a South Asian summit
in the Bangladeshi capital next week, said on Thursday that it had
to maintain good ties with its giant neighbour, India. The South Asian
Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) summit was postponed
on Wednesday when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pulled out
because of a political crisis in Nepal and security concerns in Bangladesh.
SAARC,
an economic grouping formed in 1985, includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
When
Bangladesh criticised India's decision of not attending the summit,
our ex-foreign minister Abdus Samad Azad had a contrasting opinion.
"Bangladeshi government does not have the ability or credibility
to hold such events like a SAARC summit while the country is in a
political shambles," Azad said in remarks published on Thursday.
If
someone is from the opposition party, which is supposedly against
the ruling party, it does not mean that that person has to be against
the country as well, does it?
Bangladesh
has been smashed by a series of violence and a former finance minister
and four other people were killed in an attack on an opposition rally
about 2 weeks ago.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would provide all possible 'technical'
support to investigate the deadly grenade attacks on opposition rallies
in five months in Bangladesh. "FBI can provide support for forensic
purposes but can't find out the perpetrators from remote areas of
a country. Their job is to find out clues and maintaining liaison
with concerned departments," US Ambassador in Dhaka, Harry K
Thomas told reporters here on Thursday.
The
first attack took place in August, last year, during a rally of 15,000
Awami League supporters outside the party's headquarters in the capital
Dhaka, called to protest bomb attacks, political killings and the
rising Islamic fundamentalism. Grenades were thrown at the stage as
Sheikh Hasina was finishing her speech. Hasina was bundled into her
bulletproof car and rushed away. While she escaped major injury, 20
others were killed and 300 were injured.
It
is evident that the people of Bangladesh, as of now, hope for the
culprits to be caught, but they don't expect that to happen. Reports
that had been about the bombings, all mentioned the term suspect,
but since the suspects hadn't been convicted as yet, the nation craves
for their punishment. With the modern mode of civil defence RAB, going
on rampant crossfire in which, coincidentally the criminals have died
over the past few months, but the crime hasn't decreased as yet.
At
this standstill, the country's hope for political stabilisation and
a secured life for civilians seems like a mirage, beyond a reachable
horizon.
