Rabindranath Tagore

 Our National Anthem begins with “Amar Shonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobashi“(My Bengal of Gold, I love you).

The original song consists of 25 lines and Tagore wrote this song long before the independence of both India and Bangladesh.

Our national anthem was composed in 1940 and we have taken the first 10 lines of the original poem.**

In March 1971, “Amar Shonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobashi” was selected as the national anthem by the then students’ of Dhaka University while we were observing continuous strike against Pakistani government.**

**based on Dr. Humayun Azad’s “Our Beautiful Bengal”

First Flag of Bangladesh designed by Quamrul Hasan

Bangladesh is the name of our country which means “the land of Bangla“. We know very well that our country is not the most beautiful, large and rich land on earth but our country is beautiful to ourselves. A mother need not be a beauty queen.**

Official Flag Since 1972

The tragic political joke of 1947 divided Bangla into two and Bangladesh is the eastern part of it which was the part of Pakistan till 1971. We had nothing in common with the Pakistanis except the religion.

**quoted from Dr.Humayun Azad‘s;”Our Beautiful Bangladesh”

At one stage of the inaugural speech US President Barack Obama mentioned;

  “……With all friends and former foes we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and rollback the specter of the worming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life. Nor will we waiver its defense…our spirit is stronger…cannot be broken….

 We are nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth………”

—-Excerpt from Barack Obama’s inauguration speech

Having a majority of total population practicing a particular religion is not a debatable issue at all.

However, unfortunately, we find it very painful whenever we see Bangladesh being branded as “Moderate Muslim Country” by both national and international media and personnels.

Reference link#1

Reference link#2

After independence, Bangladesh suffered a lot both politically and economically due to lack in proper decision making (internal) and subversive international pressure. As a result, Bangladesh was shifted from its very primal principle as a secular democratic nation and turned into a mono religious political entity through the amendments of its 1972 constitution.

Students preparing for war in 1970
Rashid Talukder/Autograph ABP

The 1971 independence war was the fruit of the urge of the people of Bangladesh to express themselves as a Secular Democratic Nation where their religious identity won’t be a discriminating issue.

It all began in 21st of February, 1952, when people of this part of land consciously demonstrated their urge to express their identity as a nation.

They showed their immense ability of being united as a living nation sharing a single language having different religion, racial and ethnic entity formulating a strong National Brand.

They were :-
 

a) Nationalism
b) Democracy
c) Socialism
d) Secularism

Bangladesh suffered much political turmoil soon after her independence which forced her to move away from what it was primarily directed to.

This poster was another example of the then approach of Bangladeshi people who fought for their country irrespective of their gender. Its title says, “The mother and daughters of Bengal; all are freedom fighters.”

Every country has some unique historical background which shapes its objective as a successful country.

Bangladesh is not different from this observable fact.

 Thus, Bangladesh was formed as a country having people from multi religious, cultural and social background.

It would be relevant to share this poster  which was published by the newly formed Bangladesh Government during the liberation war in 1971.

Poster Script:-”Hindus,Christians,Buddhists,Muslims of Bengal, We Are All Bengali“