The West Bengal assembly on Monday passed a resolution proposing that the state’s name be changed to “Bangla” in Bengali or “Bengal” in English. If and when it is passed in Parliament, the resolution will ensure that the state sheds a name that was foisted upon it by the British, and one that has been a constant reminder of the painful partition of unified Bengal in the 1905 by Lord Curzon.
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Riled over the opposition not supporting the move, Banerjee said: “They oppose for the sake of opposition”.
With the resolution being passed, a proposal to give effect to the name change will be sent to the Centre. Minutes later, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced at a press conference that her government would also create a new logo for the state. “We are also against the policies of the Centre but we can not allow losses of crores in the name of Bandhs”, she added.
“People have accepted the names Bengal and Bangla”. She has changed the names of a number of metro stations such as Tollygunge, an important station, was rechristened as Mahanayak Uttam Kumar.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh earlier told HT that they have requested the Centre not to table the proposal in Parliament as it would erase the memories of the 1947 Partition. We are proud that with your help, we could adopt this name, says CM Mamata Banarjee.
“Later, Mannan along with other Congress MLAs, walked out of the Assembly protesting against the chief minister’s ‘attitude”. Many politicians as well as bureaucrats were not happy with the name “West Bengal” as while speaking at national level meetings, they had to speak at last as to speak, states are chosen alphabetically.
She said as the state will be called Bengal in English, there won’t be any confusion with the neighbouring country Bangladesh. “Moreover, outside the state, we are known as people of Bengal”. Congress, CPM, BJP have opposed to the renaming of the state.
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After Calcutta changed into Kolkata, West Bengal is all set to be rechristened. Their role on the issue of name changing is also deplorable.
