JOY BANGLA

JOY BANGLA

Subject: History

Context:  Even as the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of religious politics by repeating the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chant, the latter has countered that the ruling party in the state was engaging in Bengal sub-nationalism with its use of the slogan ‘Joy Bangla’.

Concept:

• ‘Joy Bangla’, which translates as ‘victory to Bengal’ or ‘hail Bengal’ is the national slogan of Bangladesh and that it has a special place in the country’s memory of the 1971 Liberation war.
• But the roots of the slogan go way back to 1922, when a nationalist movement against the British was raging in India.

Origins of ‘Joy Bangla’

• The phrase ‘Joy Bangla’ is taken out of a poem written by Bengali poet, musician and writer KaziNazrul Islam.
• The poem written in 1922 spoke about the spirit of revolutionaries in Bengal, who shattered the shackles of oppression through generations.
• His writings were of inspiration to Bengalis of East Bengal during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war, when the country broke away from West Pakistan.
• In 1972, Nazrul was crowned the titled ‘national poet of Bangladesh’.