Differences Between Being Bengali and Bangladeshi
January 25, 2008 – 11:48 pmBangladesh is one of the few countries that has close to all of the inhabitants, about 98% of the country, to be one ethnicity. Unlike India and Pakistan there aren’t any ethnic clashes other than against indigenous tribal people and the Bengali invaders. After the 1971 liberation war, people assumed that all Bengalis were Bangladeshis, which is not true.
Bengali
When someone is a “Bengali” or “Bangali” they are part of an ethnic group. Bengalis are the largest ethnic groups in the Muslim world and in South Asia. However, they compromise of people living in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. When a person refers to a Bengali they automatically refer to a person who is from Bangladesh, which shouldn’t be the case. A Bengali is a person who descended from the Bengal, or someone who speaks the “Bangla” language.
Bangladeshi
Bangladesh is sovereign nation. Even though most of the citizens are Bengali, not all of them are. There are the Biharis, the Chakmas, the Burmese, the Punjabis, the Assamese, and many other small groups. A Bengali is not just someone who is from Bangladesh. In India, “Bangla”is the 2nd most spoken language after Hindi, which shows that India has a significant Bengali. In Pakistan, in some cities there are road signs in Urdu and below it is the Bangla translation; Pakistan has a significant number of Bengalis who were born there after 1971.
Think about it, if your from Bangladesh then you’re Bangladeshi and not just Bengali.
Tags: bangla, bangladesh, bengali, india, pakistan
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