The current Mamata Govt of West Bengal today decided to rename the state as ‘Bengal’ after its earlier proposal of renaming it ‘Paschim Bango’, made in 2011 when the TMC took charge of the state for the first time.
“The cabinet took up a proposal to rename the state as ‘Bengal’ in English and ‘Bango’ or ‘Bangla’ in Bengali (yet to be decided). Now we are giving a new proposal and will convene a special session of the Assembly on August 26 to pass a resolution to this effect,” state minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters after the meeting.
The obvious question comes in our mind “Why the Name Change?”
So let’s find the Reasons to drop “West” from the Name of the State
1. Cultural View Point
Stating the examples like Odisha and cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, the government said the word ‘Bengal’ has a deep connection with the state’s culture and heritage and so the decision to rename it.
2. Alphabetical Benefits
Another reason for changing the name is that whenever there is a meeting of all states, West Bengal figures at the bottom of the list which is prepared in alphabetical order.
3. Colonial Hangover
In the Bengali language, the state is currently referred to as ‘Pashchim Bengal’, which translates to ‘West Bengal.’ The proposal is looking to change it to either ‘Bangla’ or ‘Banga’, in Bengali. This would then gel with the already in effect change in the spelling of the state capital Kolkata, which was once officially called ‘Calcutta.’
That it is referred to as ‘West’ Bengal rather than just ‘Bengal’ is seen by some as the reflection of a colonial hangover. That’s because the British partitioned the then ‘Bengal province’ to Hindu-dominated West Bengal and Muslim-dominated East Bengal.
