West Bengal to be renamed Paschim Banga

In an apparent bid to end the decades-old debate over renaming the State, the West Bengal Government has finally decided to permanently rename and “lock” the name of West Bengal as Paschim Banga.

“Most probably,” a decision would soon be taken on the issue, State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said, adding, “the Government in all likelihood will table a bill to this effect in the coming Assembly session.”

The name Paschim Banga would be preferred over other suggested names like Banga, Bangal, Bengal, Banga Bhoomi, Banga Pradesh etc. to maintain a connection to the history of the State’s formation post-Independence.

“This is a correct decision as the eastern part of the undivided Bengal has been taken away based on religion to form a separate country, firstly East Pakistan and then Bangladesh... So we must preserve the history of this part of the province that will tell the history of the biggest partition and migration of population in the history of humanity along with the woes and plight of the common person... Loss of their place of birth, property, life and everything... Crores of them,  said another BJP leader and an MLA requesting anonymity.

The Left Front Government also raised the issue in 1999, initially passing a resolution for West Banga or Paschim Banga but eventually settling on the name Bangla after a public debate about reflecting a negative linguistic identity.

Subsequently, the Mamata Banerjee Government also proposed a name change, suggesting Paschim Bangal initially but settling for the names Bangla in Bengali, Bango in Hindi, and Bengal in English. Then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee argued that the name West Bengal put the State at an alphabetical disadvantage during administrative meetings in Delhi, when the State’s turn to speak came at the end. However, the then Union Government rejected the idea of three names.

This time round, “nothing of that sort will happen, and the name is almost finalised,” said another BJP MLA, adding, “there has been a conscious effort to force Bengalis to forget their past... This name will bring back historical continuity.”

Bhattacharya also said that the State Government had decided to construct a Paschim Bangal Bhavan at Varanasi that would act as a cultural centre apart from providing residential accommodation to the tourists and pilgrims in the holy town. It would be a joint venture project along with the Centre and the descendants of the Cooch Behar royal family, he said.   

Varanasi has a large Bengali population, with many schools and colleges established by Bengali men of worth like Chintamani Mukherjee, Ashoke Rakshit, Krishna Bhamini, Amiya Ratan Banerjee, and others.

The royal family of Cooch Behar also built the twin Kali Temples named Benaras Kalibari, while Rani Bhavani of Natore built Durga Mandir.