West Bengal is not just the name of a province. This is the last home of the Bengali community, where they can cherish their religion, tradition, culture and folklore. Why is West Bengal Day celebrated? What is the significance? Let’s find out …
In 1940, at the Lahore session of the Muslim League, Fazlul Huq, the Prime Minister of Bengal, proposed two Muslim states, Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sindh Province, Baluchistan and Kashmir in North-West India and Bengal and Assam in East India. In the same year, the coalition government of the Muslim League and the Krishak Praja Party in Bengal, through the Secondary Education Bill, proposed reservations for Muslims in the education sector. With this decision, the Arabization of Bengal began. Shri Rabindranath Tagore became vocal in protest. Inspired by him, Acharya Prafulla Chandra and Shyamaprasad Mukherjee staged a huge protest against the Secondary Education Bill.
The Muslim League intensified the movement in demand of Pakistan including Bengal. Then came the 1946 election. The Muslim League came to the polls with the aim of forming Pakistan directly. With 82 per cent of the Muslim vote, the Muslim League won 112 of the 119 seats reserved for Pakistan, including Bengal. And naturally, they formed the government. The Bengalis got the result through the great Calcutta killing and the Noakhali Hindu genocide. At that time the Muslim League leadership and the Congress leadership assumed that all of Bengal, including Calcutta, were moving to Pakistan.
But Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, the saviour of the Bengalis, came down to destroy the Muslim League’s dream of Pakistan. In 1941, Swami Pranabanandaji, the head of the Bharat Sebashram Sangha, referred to Shyamaprasad Mukherjee as the future saviour of the Bengalis and entrusted him with the task of saving the Bengali Hindus. It was at this time that BR Ambedkar, in his book Pakistan or the Partition of India, came to the conclusion that the life of any Hindu in a Muslim state will be in dark. This statement later helped the Bengali Hindus. In the end, all the Hindu political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, came forward to stop the Bengal from joining Pakistan.
Most of the legislators in the provincial legislature of Bengal were Muslims. And by 126-90 votes it was decided to include Bengal in Pakistan. In response, on 20 June, the West Bengal legislators, by a vote of 58-21, confirmed the annexation of West Bengal as a province of India, separating it from Pakistan. On this day, West Bengal legislators divided Pakistan and annexed West Bengal to India. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee proudly told Jawaharlal Nehru, “You have divided India, I have divided Pakistan.”
20 June is not only West Bengal’s birthday. June 20, is the day for Bengalis to fight with their heads held high with dignity. And so on this special day, a global web conference has been organized by Sriti O Chetona and Bangla Abar on 20th June, with the aim of highlighting the importance, significance, history and glory of the West Bengal day to the whole world. The key speakers at the webinar will be an eminent politician and former Governor of Tripura and Meghalaya professor Tathagata Roy, eminent writer and founder of Maramia Ashram Shri Joydeep Maharaj, eminent writer and publisher Kanchan Banerjee and ICHRRF’s Legal Cell member Mrs Aarti Agarwal. In this Global Web Conference, the speakers will highlight various aspects of the history, significance and relevance of West Bengal Day.
Please register for West Bengal Day GLOBAL CONFERENCE (Paschim Banga Dibas) – See the Link Below:
1 – DAY Global Conference: West Bengal Day (Paschim Banga Dibas)
Jun 19, 2022, 8:30 – 10:30 IST / 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EDT
Come, Commemorate & Memorialize West Bengal Day / Paschim Banga Dibas – The Date the Indian State of West Bengal Was Created.
LINK FOR REGISTRATION
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/274160349577157389
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
FACTS:
On 20th June 1947, legislators from the predominantly Hindu western part of Bengal at the Bengal
Legislative Assembly voted against the inclusion of western Bengal in Pakistan and for the Partition of
Bengal to create West Bengal, and to include it in the Indian Union.
DATES: June 19; 8:30 PM IST, 4:00 PM UK, 11 AM USA/EDT. Total 1 hour 55 minutes.
With attendees and Participants from North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Middle East, Japan &
India.
Organizers:
Sriti O Chetona & Bangla Abar
For more information send email to sritiochetona@gmail.com
