The rift within an imagined community: understanding nationalism(s) in Bangladesh

Abstract

The dispute over the identity of the people of Bangladesh, whether one is a Bengali or a Bangladeshi is a post-1975 phenomenon. Although one of the main themes of the independence war (1971) was 'Bengali Nationalism,' it was replaced by a military government in the post-75 period. This major change in the name of national identity requires explanations. A sharp distinction between the politics of post and pre-1975 era explains this politics of identity in Bangladesh. What the contradiction of this political identity will overdetermine can only be revealed once the history takes a shape. But the present study will delineate the trajectory of these two identico-political discourses, that is, how they took their shapes, their formation in history.