At a time when change or poribartan has become the leitmotif of the West Bengal Government, the obvious question that Bengal’s intelligentsia is asking after the State’s name was changed to ‘Paschim Banga’,  is “where is the change?” West  Bengal’s recent name change has left many others with a sense of despair and most dubbing the entire exercise as futile and childish. After a lot of brouhaha the only visible change is a mere translation from its official anglicised version into its vernacular form.

While announcing the decision to change the State’s name that was arrived at an all-party meeting, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Partha Chatterjee was emphatic that the new name Paschim Banga was chosen through consensus. However, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress general secretary Omprakash Mishra felt that the change was unnecessary and exorbitant. Even so, he felt that if moving up the alphabetical order was stated objective, then ‘Bengal’ or ‘Banga’ would have been better options.

Earlier, the Chief Minister suggested that the State’s name be changed because the ‘W’ in West Bengal handicapped Bengal at meetings convened by the Centre. She and her Council of Ministers felt that changing the name would ensure that the State moved up a few notches in its order of precedence in the alphabetical arrangement of the States in the Indian Union.

It may be noted that the move to change the name of the State was initiated previously in 1999 under then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. At that time too ‘Bangla’ and ‘Paschm Banga’ were considered but the matter was never pursued. It is true that the ‘West’ in West Bengal now holds no meaning. Thus, the demand to change the name was gaining strength for quite some time now. Bengal’s intellegentisia had particularly suggested removing the prefix  ‘West’.

But the rechristening of West Bengal as Paschim Banga has left many, especially the younger generation, disappointed especially after the frenzy that had gripped the people. Social networking sites have been flooded with criticism  and there is a strong demand to change the name to Bengal or Bangla. Unfortunately, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s insatiable desire for poribartanhas blurred the line between frivolity and seriousness.

In the past, many countries, provinces and cities have changed their names. But they have been for a tangible reason. Climbing up the alphabetical ladder, however, is not be a valid ground for name-change. “Paschim Banga was the unanimous decision at the all-party meeting,” Ms Banerjee had said. She had also added, “This will take us a step forward.”

Forward to what, one wonders. But no one really knows. Also, one must look at the irony of the fact that this ‘unanimous’ decision was taken by 13 people who belong to different political ideologies and really do not think alike. Moreover, the members arrived at the decision in just about 10 minutes. No one cared to think that the decision of these 13 people was not necessarily reflective of the views of the millions dreaming for real change.

Ms Banerjee’s decision shows her hasty attitude. Paschim Banga might take the State a step forward in the alphabetical listing of States, but the Chief Minister’s myopic administrative skills threaten to push the State into an era of mediocrity. During her regime as Union Minister of Railways, Ms Banerjee was on a naming spree as well. Among her other contributions was the random renaming of Metro stations  in Kolkata after luminaries. Unfortunately, these hold no meaning for many.  As Naktala became Gitanjali while Garia station was renamed Kabi Nazrul — though neither Tagore, his collection of poems nor Kabi Nazrul have any connection to the places — it has only added to the woes of the average commuter.

Ms Banerjee has admitted that her personal choice was ‘Bangabhoomi’ while the CPI(M) had favoured ‘Bangla’. But Paschim Banga was accepted for the sake of political unanimity, Ms Banerjee said, adding that the name had been proposed by the Congress. So, it seems like the bottomline for Ms Banerjee was to appease her coalition-elders at the Centre, upon whom she is relying for humongous grants so that she may bring alive her dream of turning Kolkata into london.

Recent statements by Ms Banerjee have also indicated that the State Government will not budge from renaming the state as Paschim Banga. The exercise is totally pointless as the impact that a State would make on a particular issue depends on the strength of the case and proposals presented by it and not on the alphabetical order. luminaries of Kolkata who had earlier supported the name-change had done so because they believed that the ‘West’ in West Bengal did not make any sense and should have been discarded long ago.

Eminent poet and academician Sankha Ghosh has rightly said, “Going up or down in the Delhi-ranking of speeches by Ministers and bureaucrats could hardly be described as a problem to which the name Paschim Banga can be a solution in place of the present West Bengal.” Some feel that the State is determined to shake its colonial yoke. But, if the colonial yoke had to be shaken, and not stirred, did we have to make such a scramble out of it?

We could have waited, invited opinions and encouraged discussion while weighing the many aspects of what is surely a crucial decision on the very identity of a State. Alphabetical promotion holds very little real meaning in the context of economic prosperity. Had this been the case,  then USA would not have ruled the roast. It is doubtful if the seven-step promotion to ‘P’ will empower the State or even augment its coffers seven times.