On February 17, 2017, a journal review session took place at the Meeting Room of BRAC University Savar Campus. Ms. Syeda Fatima Zamila, faculty member of Bangladesh Studies, discussed the article titled ‘Perceptions of Cultural Identity’ by Salma Sobhan.
Ms. Fatima began with the focus of the article, which is on the cultural stands that are pre-requisite for understanding political history of Bangladesh. The article starts from decolonization era, gradually traces emergence of Bangladesh and ends with a brief discussion about the cultural transition of Bangladesh in post-independence era. It also emphasizes on the cultural conflict between Calcutta and Dhaka during the Second Partition rather than on the political interest. The article then highlights how politicians of Pakistan failed to perceive this conflict, which otherwise could have taught them the gravity of the assault on cultural front that they perpetrated on East Bengal just after the partition.
Moreover, the discussion included why few people of East Bengal supported Muslim League while others were focused on Bengal politics and also pointed out that Jamaat-e-Islam did not support the partition movement because of their perception of Islamic culture. West Pakistan and the Arab countries failed to understand the culture of East Bengal, which ultimately resulted in the independence of Bangladesh and also affected the politics of Bangladesh just after independence. The author concludes by reflecting on her apprehension of the assault that is coming on the political culture of Bangladesh.
At the end of the discussion, faculty members shared their opinions regarding the matter.