The last sun of 1430 Bengal had risen and set. The day is over, like every day at 12 o'clock. The sun that rises in the morning of April 14 is the New Year.
I don't think about what we want in the new; we don't even think about what our disappointment is in the past. The normal day-night cycle of normal life. What we want is not a discussion; the discussion is our Bengaliana and celebration. May everyone celebrate Pahela Boishakh. May it be a universal celebration? There is a well here, there will be; let it be however, by slapping them, let the Bengali New Year shine brightly.
Like every year, lakhs of people will take to the streets on Pahela Boishakh, it is a festival for them. It is pointless to find Bengaliana among all these outcasts. Purity is not possible in one day, one festival, one embrace—it takes time. In the past few years, as people are coming out on the streets in such a festive spirit, the narrow minded are hiding holes, peeking and finding that hole as their shelter. This is our place of hope. This trend should continue.
Even in rural areas, I have seen people buy new clothes on the day of Pahela Boisakh. Apart from Eid-Puja, the mentality of recognizing it as a festival among marginalized people is a great joy. This is how it will change, first by celebrating with enthusiasm, then by finding the honey inside.
This time there was a long Eid holiday before the Pahela Boisakh holiday. People are celebrating five consecutive days of holidays including Eid, weekend and Pahela Boisakh. This holiday is a call to break through old and new ways. In the words of DL Roy—❛Nutan aloke nutan pulke/ dao go vasae bhuloke-dyuloke/ nutan haite basnarashite/ jivan moran bhaye pae ke...❜ This abahan, this call belongs to the desired, the much-desired man, too. Beyond this the outward form is largely a visualization of the mask.
The Bengali mind of this period is much divided. Being a Bengali ethnic, many deny their roots. Borrowed or imported culture is a group desperate to express their own culture. Loud people can't stand other people's party. Bengali culture, Bengali festivals are repeatedly attacked here. There are religious explanations. Many of the upper class people who call the celebration of Pahela Boisakh Hindu culture also put the religious culture on the table. Not only Pahela Boisakh, a group of people are now standing in the country who are questioning the observance of the holy Shaba Barat and Shaba Qadr of 27 Ramadan. Questioning Kadambusi touching the feet of elders. Prayer after prayer is also impure to many. There are various debates about how far the clothes will be worn. This debate, rather than a relevant or logical division, is more of a factional campaign.
Where religion is also in question for them, it is not uncommon to have questions about Pahela Boishakh, the festival of Bengali life. But on April 14, Pahela Baishakh of Bangladesh is a ❛Secular New Year❜. Because after various discussions and research, Bangladesh has decided when the Bengali New Year will be. Here, there is a slight difference between West Bengal and Bangladesh. Bengali New Year in Bangladesh is on April 14, while in India it is April 14 or 15. Bangladesh adopted the reform to keep Bangladesh's history and national special days on the same date in the BC-AD. West Bengal did not accept the reforms, so New Year is still a religious calendar for them. Maybe 16 December, 21 February, 26 March are not connected with their history.
In an interview-based report published in Deutsche Welle a few years ago, Farhad Khan, the former director of Bangla Academy, gave a logical explanation of ❛why Bangladesh chose April 14 as Pahela Boishakh❜. There he said—❛In undivided Bangladesh, Pandit Smarta Raghunandan of Nabadwip edited Bengali Calendar. Then again in 1869 edition. Later it was published in printed form. Then in 1890 the publication of Panjikas continued according to the pure decision. In 1952 Meghnad Saha was given the task of reforming the calendar by the Government of India. He is the one who reformed the century. According to that century, the first Boisakh is on April 14. This reform of Meghnad Saha also caused a great stir in Bangladesh. In 1963 Bangla Academy with Dr. Shahidullah as the president, Panjika started reforming. Earlier it was 30, 31, 32 days. Then it is OK, the first 5 months will be 31 days, the remaining 7 months will be 30 days. Then in 1995, the calendar was again reformed in Bangladesh. That calendar is recognized by the state. In this, Boishakh to Bhadra is 31 days, Ashwin to Chaitra is 30 days and Falgun month is 31 days in leap year of Christian calendar. That is, the leap year in the Christian year is also the leap year in the Bengali year. When this reform was brought up, the year 1971 was remembered, our month of glory, our month of mourning, our month of victory. In 1971, Bangla Academy made this reform to keep together the days of Christian saints like 16th December, 26th March and 21st February. As it stands now, according to the official calendar, February 21 is 9 Falgun, March 26 is 12 Chaitra and December 16 is 2 Paush. It will never change.❜ [Deutsche Welle, 16 April 2018]
The reform of Bangladesh with the Bengali calendar makes the history of the country alive. Tajuddin Ahmed, the first Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh, started writing dates in Bengali on government documents. This rule was strengthened after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the Prime Minister. This rule has been made mandatory since 1987 in view of this Dr. Shahidulla
Although the Bengali calendar was ordered to be prepared by accepting the recommendations of the committee, complications arose in the area of leap year calculation. In 1995, a task force consisting of physicists, mathematicians, language and cultural experts was formed under the then director general of Bangla Academy, Harun-ur-Rashid. This committee made 20 recommendations based on the original recommendations of Meghnad Saha and Dr. Shahidullah Committee. Even then, the Gregorian calendar and the Bengali calendar were not rooted in the national days. As a result, in 2015, the reform committee was formed for the third time to remove the inconsistencies of the Bengali calendar and make the national days completely science-based. Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan was the chairman of the committee, which included Dhaka University physics professor Ajay Roy, physicist Jamil Chowdhury, Professor Ali Asgar, academy director Aporesh Kumar Banerjee and others. Bangladesh adopted the reforms of this committee in 1426 Bengal.
In 2019, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification about the Bengali calendar. According to the 1995 reform, Boishakh, Jaishtha, Ashar, Sravan, Bhadra—the first five months of the year were counted as 31 days. But from 1426 Bangal, five months other than Falgun month have started observing 30 days. Phalgun is a 29-day month, only in leap years Phalgun will be a 30-day month. Mohammad Mubarak Hossain, director of research, compilation and dictionary and encyclopedia department of Bangla Academy, said about the reason for this reform, ❛Important national days like February 21, December 16, March 26 will be celebrated on the same day as they were held according to Bengali calendar.❜ That is, in 1971 on March 26 and December 16 and on February 21, 1952 in the Bengali calendar, Lifetime Bangladesh will be observed on the same date from now on.
It goes without saying that those who try to divide the Bengali calendar reform and this date and celebration of the Bengali New Year in a narrow-minded campaign are wrong. April 14 is Pahela Boishakh, so secular New Year. It is glory and history to glorify the day on which it happened.
Longlife Bangladesh is getting the same date in the new reform, which happened on February 21, 1952 in the Gregorian calendar and then in the Bengali calendar. Similarly, all national days including December 16, March 26, birth and death dates of Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam are also based on two calendars.
❛❛The passion of the juice is dried up, let us come / Bring it, bring it, but let the conch shell of the deluge / Mayer's kujjhtijal let it go away.❜❜
Happy New Year 1431!