11-28-2005, 09:49 AM
In the early 20th century, there used to be a saying that ' what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow' .
It was the heat of Bengali freedom movement which forced British to move the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.
Bengal single handedly produced most dynamic nationalistic leaders in India, a veritable army in itself.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the most underestimated national leader in India who was never liked by Congress.
It is sad to see Bengal struggling and trying to catch up with the other states in India.
In fact, socio/religious/nationalistic leaders like Sri RamaKrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo prepared the ground which accelerated India's freedom movement.
However, there seems to be a sublte movement (by intelligentsia) in Bengal to give more prominence to Bengali as a separate identity thereby alligning closer with Bangladesh instead of nationalistic fervor which has weaned away over the last 50 years.
Correct me if I am wrong!
It was the heat of Bengali freedom movement which forced British to move the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.
Bengal single handedly produced most dynamic nationalistic leaders in India, a veritable army in itself.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the most underestimated national leader in India who was never liked by Congress.
It is sad to see Bengal struggling and trying to catch up with the other states in India.
In fact, socio/religious/nationalistic leaders like Sri RamaKrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo prepared the ground which accelerated India's freedom movement.
However, there seems to be a sublte movement (by intelligentsia) in Bengal to give more prominence to Bengali as a separate identity thereby alligning closer with Bangladesh instead of nationalistic fervor which has weaned away over the last 50 years.
Correct me if I am wrong!