Editorial
Pahela Baishakh passes as the day of oneness
Let it rejuvenate our spirit all year long
As on every year, this year, too, on Pahela Boishakh, thousands of people came together in a spirit of festivity to usher in the Bangla Nabobarsho or new year. The first of Boishakh is the day when people, irrespective of faith, class, age, sex or any other difference, converged on the basis of cultural harmony.
It is the day when businesses closed off the past year's accounts with the ending of the old Haal Khata and opening of a new one, and the day when farmers take stock of crops. Though this may have been the case historically, Pahela Boishakh is no longer celebrated for its economic significance alone, though it now gives a further boost to the economy with the buying and selling of new clothes and gifts akin to a nationwide fair! Today, it is the largest cultural festival in which Bangalis take part, clad in white and red, losing themselves in a myriad of other colours of festoons, masks and handicrafts.
This year, too, the whole nation, was a vibrant, pulsating image of colour and song. Neither the Ramna Batamul blasts of 2001 nor the current shadow of political instability and communal tension could stop the thousands of Bangalis from welcoming the first light of day with Chhayanaut's Barshoboron in the capital's Ramna Batamul or participating in the Mongol Shobha Jatra, the colourful procession brought out by students and teachers of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University.
Amidst it all, there were the handful of Islamic scholars who, as always, claimed that the new year celebrations go against Muslim values. This bigoted view does not help the discourse; on the contrary, it creates confusion as well as weakens us. Just as we imbibe Islamic values so also are we proud of our Bengali heritage. Any dichotomy and conflictual perception of the two prevent us from taking a collective comprehensive view of our cultural heritage. That is where our pride lies and that is what shines the path to progress.
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