India, Bangladesh: East Or West, Bengal Is The Best

Painter, photographer and blogger Ujwala Prabhu published a photo book titled East or West, Bengal is the best! based on photographs taken over a 3 week period in India and Bangladesh.

73 comments

  • Thank you for the write-up.

  • Bengal needs to REUNITED!

    Independence from India for West Bengal is a necessary and required step for peace in the region.

    Reunification with Bangladesh and Assam to re-form “The Bengal” is what will bring harmony to the people of West Bengal.

    “The Bengal” was never part of India. The Bengali’s are a separate people, culture, language and region. The British broke Bengal into multiple parts to sow dissension and prevent the Bengalis from attaining their former superiority.

    West Bengal is part of “The Bengal”. The Bengal stretches from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. The Bengal includes Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. These are all recently-created “provinces” in an effort to continue to disintegrate the “Bengali Identity”. The core region of The Bengal is currently known as Bangladesh.

    The Bengali people number over 400 million. We demand that we have ONE UNITED HOMELAND that covers the entire Bengali region. We demand that West Bengal, Assam and the other parts of Bengal cede from India and Re-Unite with Bangladesh.

    REUNIFICATION of BENGAL!

    One Language, One Culture, One People – ONE HOMELAND!

    • modda khan

      Hi,

      Let me impart some knowledge so that u could write up better articles next time arouund..

      What is the point in having a large state when we cant provide basic needs to the people who already there..
      In the next 50 years or so ,much of bangaledsh will be submeged in water because of greenhouse gas effects and forccing people to move to high lying areas remaining in bangladesh and india..
      people in bangladesh are migrating to other countries like malaysia and india facing hardships as they have no hope of survival in bangladesh

      I suggest you to come up with articles which will enlighten people and help in the development of bangladesh ..u may write up about social issues or issues about corruption which is rampant in bangalesh intead of this worthless article

      • Swarnav Sen

        I agree with u. U r absolutely right. This article is worthless.Why should west bengal and assam leave india? It was always a part of the indian subcontinent. It was the wish of muslim people to create a separate state of East Bengal (East Pakistan) which is now present day Bangladesh. We in India are living in peace with each religion are equally important for us. We celebrate holi,diwali, durga puja in the same way as we celebrate Eid or Christmas. Thats why India is a secular country. But Pakistan and Bangladesh is much concerned about their own religion only. You should learn from India that how many diverse culture are tied in a same bond like marathi, bengali, punjabi, gujrati, tamil, telegu, assamese all are living together as an indian with a pride rather than demanding for a separate nation like you people.
        I being from Kolkata, West Bengal love my country alot and feel proud to be an Indian. :)

    • Saugata Sarkar

      Well, I am a stakeholder in this debate. 3 generations ago my family migrated from East Bengal to West Bengal in undivided Bengal. Still a part of our extended family lives in Bangladesh. The culture and language of Bangladesh and West Bengal is the same and it is a shame that Bengal was divided and given to Pakistan at the time of independence just on the ground of religion and the pathetic two nation theory which is being everyday being proven wrong by the continued success of India in every field and the utter failure of Pakistan in every field.
      Al though I truly agree that Bengal shall be reunited, I believe it should be the opposite way, Bangladesh should join with India.It should be called reunification of India.
      Actually it is the in the benefit of the people in Bangladesh to join a much larger economic power and multi cultural India.
      It will be such a joy to welcome our own brothers into the colours of incredible India.
      And who knows… perhaps some day even a reunification with Pakistan…for a reunited Punjab!!
      An united sub continent shall be the biggest economic and geo political powerhouse in the world. And truly that is the day when we shall truly arrive.
      A TRULY UNITED, SECULAR, MULTICULTURAL, MULTILANGUAGE BUT ONE PEOPLE- ONE HOMELAND! A GREAT REUNITED- BHARATVARSHA!

      • AKRAM

        IF THIS IS TRUE THAN INDIA SHOULD JOIN CHINA .AN UNITED SUB CONTINENT SHALL BE THE BIGGEST ECONOMIC AND GEO POLITICAL POWERHOUSE IN THE WORLD . THERE WILL BE NO MORE WARE BETWEEN INDIA AND CHINA .

  • Arnab Bhar

    Bangladesh once a part of India was portioned fromIndia by the Britishers on the policy of divide and rule .But the rich Bengali culture and heritage of bengalis ,rabindra nath ,nazrul islam tie the hearts of both the nations ,where were one once .Its the duty of the citizens of both the nations to reunite Bangladesh back to West Bengal and form a stronger India as it was

    • BDAF

      United Bengal, yes. BD to unite with India? NEVER! We have our own separate cultural identity and it has proven to be too distinct to subsume into the already ill-informed united entity known as “India”. I hope for relative prosperity in the region but the only re-unification that would work would be for W Bengal to secede from India and join the United Bengal. If you think that’s unrealistic you may as well forget the whole thing because the other idea (of a United Akhand Bharat) would be an unmitigated disaster for all concerned. We should be focusing on development anyway.

      • Swarnav Sen

        dude its not possible for India to take an over populated, poverty striken nation to include to them. India is already suffering from overpopulation. If bangladesh is reunited then it will be a downfall for India. We in west bengal are already suffering from over population as the refugees from bangladesh are bursting in West Bengal, Bihar and other states of india through the porous Indo- Bangla border. It was Pakistans wish to separate from a great united country like India. So let them be happy with their country. We are progressing alot. So dont you expect a receding country to join India. If china would have given proposal to mearge with india then we could have given a thought. But Bangladesh…No way…..

      • AKRAM

        BANGLADESH BECOME INDEPENDENT JUST BECAUSE OF THE LANGUAGE ,SO WHY IT SHOULD JOIN WITH SO MANY SPEAKING LANGUAGE COUNTRY . IT SHOULD STAY ONE LANGUAGE( BANGALE) SPEAKING COUNTRY .JAY BANGLADESH .

  • Arnab Bhar

    West bengal was always a part of India as well as Bangladesh ,Subhash Chandra Bose never wanted to divide India and break into Pakistan and East pakistan as they were both integral part of India .None of the greenhouse effect is going to submerge Bangladesh thats a false claim.It was India only which had helped Bangladesh to break away from Pakistan.Moreover Culture of Bengalis is the same as in Bangladesh as well as in west bengal and they should well reunite with there motherland

    • S. A. Khan

      You talk about the golden era of Bengal. Great leaders like Desh Bandhu Chittaranjan Das, Netaji Subas chandra Bose, Rabindranath Thakur etc were great sons of Bengal. They were not communal and considered Muslim Bengalees as human beings. Something happened afterwards, possibly after 1905 when it appeared that there were a few muslims who(although they were a majority but mostly uneducated peasants) are trying to speak for their rights specially against Zaminders. Trouble started. Mahashabha consisted of zamindars and upper class kolkata never considered that the peasant population had a right and they went ahead alone with the slogan of “Bandemataram” .Whereas nothing apparently is wrong with the word but bigots circulated that this word was against Islam. Seeds of separation thus sown which now now proved wrong in all aspects. Moderation in those far off times might have produced better result subject to Patel-Nehru conspiracy to divide India by not acceting Cabinet CommissionPlan. These two even manipulated Mahatma who just wept and excepted the existance of pakistan without legimitacy

      • Swarnav Sen

        U are right. During partition of Bengal people of west bengal refused partition but majority of muslims in east bengal wanted separate state because they used to think that by having a separate state their condition can become better as it was fact that West Bengal was more developed and educated than East Bengal and East Bengal being an agricultural hub of bengal was less developed and very few people were literate. It was britishers only who did this massacre. Like if Sylhet is less developed than dhaka in Bangladesh or if Midnapore is less developed than kolkata then would the people will want a separate country/state? Rather Govt of Bangladesh and Govt of West Bengal should take care of consistency in growth and literacy of this regions.

  • Modda,
    The Green House effect statistics are still not that accurate so to confirm that Bangladesh will be submergerd under sea; but yes efforts must be underway to take protection for Climate change and disasters that can follow the Climate Changes.
    People in Bangladesh as like all other Countries,India,Pakistan,Phillipines,Indonesia, Hongkong Chinese and other south-east/asian countries are:
    1.Going abroad to Middle East,US and European Countries on Contract basis for employment.
    2.Becoming Citizens of US and European Countries and maintaing dual Citizenship as allowed by Constitution
    But no one is going to work in India very definitely;on the contrary some Indian who dont even have proper working documants are working in some of Bangladesh garments Industry for a long time earning foreign exchange. The Government will soon be checking on these illegal practices and solve the problem. Some Garments Industry has already been taken to task and more to follow.
    Those Bangladeshis in India are the followers of a political party that India favour to get their own interest solved. Unfortunately they have driven out by Bangladeshis but India is now maintasining them hoping to create disturbance through them incase their self interest is not done–The Indian Movies give a perfect example of how Indian Corrupt politicans use these people to create problems. I am confident you know.
    Corruption is there in Bangladesh as is rampant Corruption in India (normal for all Asian Countries) but India’s Tehelka.com exposed the Politicians Corruption to a great extend that should shame the Indians and recent corruption of Dr>Manmohan Singhs method to buy opposition Members to pass the Nuclear deal with America has been widely visualized and written so that ALL WORLD knows.
    India is full of complex political and social problems – caste system, Shikh/Punjabi dominance, marxists,maoists problems and many more.
    Bangladesh has also political problems but compared to India is very less.
    Without the help of Russian moral and Military support India couldnt have helped Bangladesh- and Bangladesh do remember that but they also remember how India wants to use this excuse to dominate evrything here– Remember that Bangladesh got Independence from the British and Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are ready if necessary to fight again if any others want to dominate them.
    India is strong and has some favours of West but remember that favours of West can also change towards Bangldesh and India may need to sit and suck its thumb thinking what happened.
    Therefore please be more informative about events around the world before you criticize others.
    So Modda hopefully it has cleared your vision and also of those others in here.

    • indian khan

      rumy
      assalamalaikum…
      Bangladesh faces significant challenges as one of the poorest countries in the world, as well as due endemic corruption, weak rule of law, and limited bureaucratic transparency,illiteracy, ignorance and socio-economic inequalities are regarded as the prime causes of corruption in Bangladesh.

      yes it is true that some qualified indians are there to teach the bangaladeshi people how to make clothes from machines…india has the oldest clothes making and jute refining mills in asia. BD rated one of the least educated society and highest in crime, even selling of their girls and womens only for money and to buy a bottle of crosin syrup…….i dont understand where those donation moneys have gone which were continously coming from arab states specially…durring eids n other festival…as a fitras and jakaats in the name of the poor people of BD…and also large number of social help from western country..specially father merica.

      1.it is not absolutely true that the people from BD r going on a contract basic…can you tell me wat is the education level of your country if you know then u undrstnd wat kind of job your country people are going to do there.(toilet cleaning).once i have been 4 a holiday in rome and i have seen group of BD were selling umbrellas,even some old BD uncles.
      DO U KNOW.. in rome there some BD restuarant but u know wats the name of restuarant,u will not beleive all of them is named as indian restuarant…just to earn money bcoz indian foods is known by the world and its safe..2morrow if they change the name to bangaladesh restuarant….believe me.then they have shutter it down…BDs r doing business in the name of india(father).
      miss rumy i think that you dont know that a bunch of bangaladeshi are intering in italy illegally.the person whose toilet has been a open ground,he is also coming illegaly,who dont even know wat is passport and wat is the spelling of passport.so wat do u want say…go to rome city and see bd r moving like insect,,italians r upset 4om inside but they dont say it directly coz they dont want to hurt people, just like we indians do.
      2.hw many BDs hav got the american citizenship….do you know wat is the meaning of citizenship and wat are the least qualification required.(check out if u can luckly get the visas).
      do u know wat is HIGH PROFILE VISIT n who is mericas presidnt and where has he been.
      BD is not so far from india then why president did not turn his flight towards your country wen he come 2 visit india and not only he alot of personality …if u know.i think u know as u know bout tehelkas n all…
      do you know the difference between the pond fish and ocean fish…n u know 4om wer u belong.
      the whole world is facing corruption….india is not new but still my country is developing…
      we hav less corrupt then BD.
      wat happen in BD with Army and border security forces u know …how educated u all are…
      how can you imagine bout fighting with any country….do u know wats ur countrys position…if india offer your country to keep all the inda’s animals in your country for one week then you people have to leave your country to provide space for animals to live in….and if by mistake all of them start peeing together then you know wat will happen…..a monsoon before monsoon…
      sorry to say all those above but as you said i am replying you just..
      i m a good human being…..listen..
      The good u do 2day,people will often forget tommorrow..DO GOOD ANYWAY!!!
      this is india…

    • Saptarshi Roy.

      Ask your brothers and sisters from Bangladesh not to immigrate illegally to India. This is creating serious problems in Assam, West Bengal and the rest of the country by changing the demographic balance and straining our resources. Your people asked for a separate country in 1947 and so now you’ll should stay happy in it. Remember, good fences make good neighbours.

    • Swarnav Sen

      dude grow up. Its fact that the amount of bangladeshi refugees who comes to india are 10 times more than that of indians go to bangladesh. I live in Calcutta. Even our gardener and fish seller are from Bangladesh. We unlike u people doesnt check for illegal works. We have made ourself understand that this people doesnt have money for livelihood in Bangladesh and thats why they have come to kolkata to earn money…whats the problem in that?? why are u sowing seeds of hatred between indians and bangladeshi people. Its just because of u ppl there is always a political riots between different countries. clear your mind from this negative rubbish and teach good thoughts to other rather than complaining and blaming other people/country.

  • Arnab Bhar

    I agree to that both the nations have corrupt politicians ,but the biggest question is why are we making things worse by fighting with each other. Both Muslims and Hindus fought for the freedom of India ,it was the Britishers who sowed the seeds of hatred between us on the basis of relegion and Nehru for getting the throne of India hurriedly signed the pact to divide our motherland into Pakistan and India. My concern is how can bunch of western people dictate us to divide our motherland or not?.Also the filthy politicians of both the nations utilised our ignorance an hatred to run the shop of corruption and fill there pockets.iInt it true that there was no such thing called Bangladesh it was all Bengal and it was 1857 sepoy mutiny who brought all the princely states to form united India and attack the Britishers. Though India has varied culture,I am sorry to say you are misinformed there is no such thing called Sikh/Punjabi dominance. Also the press in India is free as well as the media .India has well progressed into indigenous military technology and space technology. China sees India as big competitor as such uses the weak elements of India ,pakistan,Bangladesh to increase maoist attacks in India. I would like to remind,during Kargil war,whole of India united to fight the Pakistanis. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhay had written “Vande Mataram” which had roared in the hearts of every Hindustani from Bengal to Kashmir to Kanyakumari to Punjab,with such a strong bonding inspite of our diverse cultures its amazing to see India gain its freedom. Western powers also want these 3 nations to keep fighting so that they can sell there junk weapons and increase there revenue,by bribing our corrupt politicians who happily sign the contracts.Instead of checking those we keep blaming each other for every thing.

  • Arnab Bhar

    India is also in need of power and signing of the civilian nuclear deal is the first step for green power which India needs for its development and sophisticated nuclear reactors parts which Indian scientists are building ,also India is investing in Solar and green power initiatives to reduce its greenhouse footprint

  • but the biggest question is why are we making things worse by fighting with each other.???
    That’s the question who easy answer is difficult though some ideas can be given :-
    The East India Company policy of Divide and Rule has been most useful for the benefit of Nehru_Jinnah and Western Powers through commissions i.e war:Indo-Pak means supply of weapons and ammunitions from Western Country which is their main source of earning- so West that can easily stop as again they r the main Donor Country- and again Commission. Therefore there is so much hatred between people and emotion well exploited by Leardes to stay in Power and share the Wealth.
    Lets take Bangladesh and India: Before Partition Bangladesh was East Pakistan and tension was great then but no border fence was made –now after Bangladesh and 9/11/2001 and Nuclear Deal of India with US it became necessary to but up Fence- what a sign of warm friendship– ??
    All the Leaders of the region should sit jointly–Leaders not their Ministers for they work as agents(hidden of West) and solve treaties and regulations that is now outdated and renew them in spirit of good friendship with understanding
    My suggestion is that First they South Asian Countries and specifically bangladesh and Indian Leaders must sit to clarify all problems and set a goal

  • Does any one here has email address of Barkha DUtt of NDTV .. it would be interesting to aaproach her with idea for a exclusive show on this Relationship between Countries and get the Leaders interested.

  • Arnab Bhar

    You are right in your sayings ,issue is India is not trusting anyone now,after Lahore pact with Nawas Sharif and Bajpaee and warm welcome from Pakistan ,they stabbed Indias back by doing Kargil. Subhas chandra Bose nvere wanted to partiton India ,it was Nehru ,Jhinnah who with the greed of throne signed the pact with the Britishers.It only shows hat politics wanted o divide us for there personal gains,and we all are idiots adhering to it.You just tell me someday a Britisher will again come to your motherland and ask you to divide and give it to him,will u do it or fight him back?Thats exactly happened with India and we broke it into Bangladesh and Pakistan.Also you have to consider ,Pakistan ISI has used weak elements in Bangladesh against India .Talking of Muslims ,India has twice the number of Muslims what Pakistan +Bangladesh combined has,and all are proud to be Indians first and religion comes second.You have to consider the fact that ,afer 1971 war India never tried to dominate Bangladesh and helped it become a Independant state.So why is Pakistan ,Bangladesh fighting with each other,the answer is the poliical partys of all the 3 nations want it that way as well as the western powers,so that they can fill there pockets from ransom of weapons deal .They use the religious sentiments to attack each other.I can try to get Barkah Dutts contacts,you also try to find if possible.be in touch

    • Another Tiger

      You are wrong on multiple issues – the British invaded Muslim ruled-Bengal in 1757 (British did NOT invade “india”) and upto that point in time there was NO such thing as “india”!

      This so-called “united india” was a fantasy creation of the British in the late 1800s. Time for the fantasy to be done – now its the 21st century!

      Second, thing you are wrong about -“Talking of Muslims ,India has twice the number of Muslims what Pakistan +Bangladesh combined has” – WRONG!!!

      Bangladesh has a pop of 150 million with around 135 million Muslim.
      Pakistan has a pop of 180 million with around 178 million Muslim.
      “india” has a pop of 1.1 billion with around 160 million Muslim.
      I think you need a LESSON in MATH and HISTORY!

      United Bengal – not part of “The Bogus Entity Of india”.

      West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and other Bengali states – FIGHT for FREEDOM!

      Break up “india”!

      Long Live UNITED BENGAL.

      • S. A. Khan

        Think about giving autonomy to each of the Indian states. Get Pakistan interested to act similarly and create four states of NW frontier, Punjab, Sind and Balichistan. These states are likely to join states of india and create a United State of Inda. We bengalees in Bangladesh, W. Bengal, Assam, Tripura have to consider very carefully amongst ourselves and decide whatever is best for us at a later stage.

      • Saptarshi

        …and before you go any further ahead with your baseless propaganda of “breaking India for a united Bengal”, let me suggest you to stop right there and keep your ignorance to yourself.

        • Never think of breaking India into pieces. Already we are in three piece and further weakening will call in disaster for the Indian race. We in south Asia can guess amongst ourselves about who from what region, but to outside world we are all INDIANS. For a better future for all of us I am inclined to think of a United States of India with reasonable autonomy to states/provinces.

        • anonymous

          i agree that there should be one free indepenent united bengal. but assam has its own assamese language, and nagaland also has its own language so they should not be a part of bengal.

      • Saptarshi

        http://www.islamicpopulation.com/asia/asia_general.html

        Another Tiger, seems like you instead need a lesson in Maths, History, Statistics and Politics. India has far more numbers of Muslims than Pakistan and Bangladesh combined.
        Get the facts straight dude and add more credibility to your statements. United brotherhood amongst Pakistan, India and Bangladesh is what is required.

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