Editorial
Pahela Baishakh this year
A positively revealing observance
The spontaneity with which the nation observed Pahela Baishakh on Thursday has revealed certain significant aspects about society in Bangladesh today. One is of course the remarkable growth in the numbers of people for whom the advent of the Bengali New Year is not only cause for a day's celebration and holiday but also a rededication to the traditions which for have ages nurtured Bengali culture in Bangladesh as well as beyond its frontiers. One notes that Pahela Baishakh is today much more than a Dhaka- or urban-based affair, for as this year's spirited observance of the day has so amply demonstrated, its celebrations have greatly diversified and are now as much a matter of rural exuberance as they are of the urban.
The economic aspects of Pahela Baishakh cannot be ignored. It is comforting to know that while the origins of Baishakh, rooted in early Mughal times, revolved around a closing of old accounts and an opening of new ones, in today's circumstances it is again economics which underpins the coming of Baishakh. The brisk trading which went on in the days and weeks preceding Pahela Baishakh is a testimony to the near religious fervour, not unlike that associated with Eid, with which people approached the New Year. On a wider scale, Pahela Baishakh this year was a resounding reassertion of the secular ethos of this nation. All Bengalis, among whom come followers of all faiths in the country, made it a point to remind themselves of the cultural stock they spring from. In addition, celebrations of the New Year by indigenous people, Bangladesh's original inhabitants, only added substance to the secular spirit.
Pahela Baishakh this year can, in that particular way, be regarded as a coming of age for the people of Bangladesh. And for the majority of Bengalis who also happen to be followers of the Islamic faith, a celebration of national culture has nothing contradictory with their adherence to faith (despite the attempts of the fanatical right to mislead people on this point). That Bangladesh's people are justifiably proud of their cultural heritage and aware of their religious values has never been in doubt. On Thursday, we as a people firmly renewed our faith in ourselves.
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