West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed her strong disapproval of what she termed the political double standards of the BJP-led central government. This came shortly after the Union Cabinet gave its approval to the proposal to rename Kerala as “Keralam.”
Banerjee stated that while the Centre has been quick to approve Kerala’s proposal to change the name of the state, it has been holding West Bengal’s proposal to rename the state as “Bangla” for a long time. She stated that this is evidence of the Centre’s “anti-Bengali” stance and its bias against the state. Banerjee stated that since the state’s name is currently “West Bengal,” it is always at a disadvantage in official and professional matters due to its position at the end of the alphabetical order. However, if the state is renamed “Bangla,” the state will move much higher in the alphabetical order, to the fourth position after Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam. In her criticism, Banerjee has identified the problem not only as a matter of naming but also as a matter of justice and equality in treatment by the central government among all states.
Although extending her congratulations to the people of Kerala on their decision, Mamata Banerjee has also taken this opportunity to refer to the long-pending issue of renaming West Bengal. She said that she “warmly congratulates the brothers and sisters of Kerala” on their decision to change the name of their state to ‘Keralam.’ While referring to the procedure followed in such matters, Banerjee has stated that when a state government decides to change the name of its state, it is normally accepted without any problem.
However, she was disappointed that West Bengal has not been treated in the same way. According to her, although the proposal by the West Bengal government to rename the state has been made, the renaming has not been accepted in the same way as other states. Through her statements, Banerjee has again emphasized the inequality in the treatment of the renaming of West Bengal compared to the renaming of Kerala.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that students from West Bengal “always suffer slightly because ‘West Bengal’ begins with ‘W,’ which comes at the end of the alphabet. So, they are always called last. I also suffer the same problem because I am always the last to speak at official gatherings because I represent West Bengal.” Banerjee stated that the need to change the name of West Bengal arises from the need to represent the cultural identity of Bengal and move away from the past, which is associated with the Partition of 1947. She stated that the government first proposed the name change of West Bengal to “Bangla” because of the state’s culture and heritage, and the legislative assembly adopted a resolution in favor of the name change twice. The assembly was later told that the name of the state should be the same in Hindi, Bengali, and English, and they adopted another resolution to change the name of the state to “Bangla” in all three languages.
According to experts, the use of the “West” prefix is outdated and is a reminder of a very painful era in history, particularly because “East Bengal” is no longer in existence, having been renamed first as East Pakistan and then as the independent nation of Bangladesh.
‘Anti-Bengali, Growing Alliance Between BJP and CPI(M)’
Mamata Banerjee attacked the BJP, saying that it is “anti-Bengali.” She also said that despite
her repeated pleas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue, nothing has been done yet.
“They have no respect for the icons and visionaries of Bengal. They use the word ‘Bangla’ only during elections to seek votes,” she said. Banerjee also said that the name change of Kerala was approved because of the growing alliance between the BJP and CPI(M). “The name change of Kerala has taken place because of the growing alliance between the BJP and CPI(M). This alliance is no longer a secret one,” she said.
She said, “One day, when the BJP is no longer in power, we will change the name.”
What is the history behind the demand to rename West Bengal as ‘Bangla’?
1999: The movement to rename West Bengal started in 1999 when the Left Front government, headed by Jyoti Basu, came to power. A proposal to rename the state as ‘Bangla’ was unanimously adopted in the state assembly. Interestingly, the proposal was made by Saugata Roy, who was a Congress MLA at that time. However, the central government, which was headed by the NDA at that time, did not accept the proposal, as they felt that the name ‘Bangla’ might cause confusion with the neighboring country, Bangladesh.
2011: When the Mamata Banerjee-led government came to power in 2011, they proposed to rename the state ‘Paschimbanga’ in all languages. However, the proposal was again rejected by the central government and could not proceed further.
2016 : The state government came up with a unique suggestion to rename the state by using different names in three languages. According to this suggestion, the state would be named “Bangla” in Bengali, “Bengal” in English, and “Bangal” in Hindi. The aim was to respect the linguistic diversity while maintaining the cultural identity in each language. However, the Central government did not accept the suggestion. The Central government argued that no state in the country can have different names in different languages, as it may lead to some administrative and legal hassles.
2018 : After receiving the objections from the Central government, the state government changed its strategy. In July 2018, the state assembly passed a new resolution suggesting that the state be renamed “Bangla” in Bengali, English, and Hindi. The intention was to overcome the previous objection raised by the Central government. Despite the new suggestion, no final decision has been taken yet. The Central government has raised objections to the new suggestion, as the name “Bangla” is very similar to the name “Bangladesh.” This may lead to some confusion in the international arena. Therefore, the issue is still pending.
