csaurabh wrote:kittoo wrote:
It makes me angry on one hand, but on the other hand I have given up on my Bengali brethren. I am sorry Anindya. It makes me so sad but the most 'secular' people I have met till now (even though I know there are a few Bengalis here too) have been Hindu bengalis. I have forgotten the number of arguments I have had with them, even with people who were hounded out of Bangladesh. I have heard arguments such as the usual ones like 'secularism must be upheld', 'RSS/BJP are same as terrorists and are idiots', 'culture triumphs religion' (which is weird because they all do agree, when asked, that it doesnt for Muslims and Christians). I was told, when I asked about Hindus dying in 24 Pargana or Murshidabad etc., that 'they dont contribute anything to economy so it doesnt matter'! The most virulent Modi haters on my Fb, maybe even more so than Muslims or Christians, are Bengali Hindus.
Its like they think they live in some special ideal world where there are no problems of anti-Hindu kind, and its BJP/RSS stirring the pot otherwise everything would've been fine. I personally dont know a single Bengali who is even slightly right wing or pro-Hindu. And I know some 30 overall. Breaks my heart but I have given up after countless debates and blood-pressure rousing situations/news.
Most Bangalies are put off by the average North Indian's crudeness and complete lack of cultural refinement ( UP/Bihar ) or an obsession with money/business ( Marwaris, Gujratis ). They cannot identify much with South India either ( becoz language problem ). This means they only identify much with Odisha and... Bangladesh. Dhaka radio has excellent programs and can be heard all over.. moreover Bengali TV shows often cross borders as well. This causes Bengali media to be 'sikular' ( to be fair, Bollywood has the same problem ). On the other hand, Bengalis born and brought up outside WB ( like me ) can often see the problem much more clearly..
I wanted to write this in earlier post, but didnt. As your post hinted at, I have often found that during these debates, I have often found that most Bengalis will be slightly snobbish, talking with contempt in assurance of the superiority of their ideas. And I am not UPite/Bihari or crass (not that UPites/Biharis are. I love their style of Hindi, though it may seem crass to some). I am Sindhi/Rajasthani. Maybe over time they have developed this sense of superiority with respect to all North Indians. Also, maybe someone should tell them about the role that Marwaris played in saving Kolkata in 1947.
On another note, right after I posted, my FB wall was filled with posts from Bengalis about Modi's cancelled trips to Benaras, because of rains. It was like some collective celebration of rage against Modi/BJP, with comments such as 'cleaning ganga is the biggest scam. what benefits will it give?', "I wont give up my LPG subsidy' and 'wasting our taxes'. Yeah get a commie/TMC/Congress government. They are so much better. Makes my blood boil. Anyway, cant do much other than blocking them on FB.
P.S.- Glad to hear that Bengalis outside WB are much more clear headed.
Rahul M wrote:it cuts both ways. the almost lone voices in media for the PIF in the long years of wilderness were 3 bongs. some of the most important icons of the nationalist movement are bongs. rss boom state in recent years has been WB.
yet people would ignore all that and go by their pet biases. because of course, anything outside their narrow definition of hindus must be an enemy. I mean, non-veg eating hindus are just not 'proper' hindus right ?
Seriously, Rahul saar? We must think that 'non-veg' eating Hindus are not proper Hindus? What are Rajputs then? I dont give a shit who eats veg on non-veg.
And it has been a serious pain point for me that the land that gave us such luminaries such as Swami Vivekananda has become this. Please dont think that I have no idea about Bengal's contribution there. Thats the reason its even more hurtful to me.
I hope you werent referring to me when you said 'narrow definition of Hindus', because I am pretty sure my post wasnt about that at all.
And I sure as hell hope that its just my pet bias. All ~30 of known Bengalis being uber secular does make it hard for me to believe the other way. I hope I am wrong.