Celebration of Pahela Baishakh highlights Bangalee spirit

What a relief it was! After three months of stifling environment marked with violence and terror, people all across the country could finally breathe freely. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party under Khaleda Zia announced cessation of its indefinite blockade. Good sense prevailed at long last, although not before the unnecessary but painful and tragic death of 138 lives in the senseless political mayhem. The next day, Chaitra Sangkranti i.e; the party's ally Jamaat-e-Islami called a hartal (general strike) and as part of its preparation continued with its terrorist act of throwing petrol bombs on vehicles. The anti-Liberation outfit managed to burn three transport workers, including a truck driver.

Now does it signal a difference, if not a rift, between the two allies? Had it been the case, the country's politics would have got a better chance of returning to a normalcy. In politics for the people, sanity is a precious element. For the past three months, the country lost its sanity with politics leading from the front. Thank God, even the Jamaat-e-Islami kept the first day of the Bangla year1422 outside the pale of its violent politics. It deserves thanks for this favour. This paved the way for celebration of the Pahela Baishakh in a near inhibition-free environment all over the country.

The fear of bomb attacks and the consequent charred human bodies that haunted everyone on the streets of Bangladesh had to be overcome. And there was no better occasion than the celebration of the Bangla New Year. People broke free from their mental constraint, gave in to their spontaneous euphoria like the perched earth gratefully receives the first monsoon rains. Not just the more established cultural organisation like the Chhayanaut and Surer Dhara took the opportunity to express the Bangaleeness at its mellifluous and yet most enchantingly magical, scores of other smaller and less famous organisations celebrated the Bangaleeness through songs, music, and other festive events. Clubs and different associations like housing society organised not only cultural shows but also fairs like those in villages.

The nation once again proved what it stands for. Its defining spirit was amply on display. Suppressing it is a crime. The Pakistanis tried it unsuccessfully. Its war-time allies have not yet reconciled with the idea. They think they can still manage to push the clock of history backward little aware that this nation has been assuming a distinct identity of its own free from religious extremism. The past three months' terrorism has been a total failure. People in general here do not endorse violence, they are in favour of peaceful co-existence of all communities.

Secular festivals of the order of the Pahela Baishakh and Ekushey are carving a niche in the minds of the young generations. This point gets its further confirmation from the fact that celebration of the New Year even in remote hamlets and wards was reported. This shows the rise of a nation. Culturally awakened and strong, a nation stands a better chance of surviving any invasion -military or otherwise.  Notwithstanding the death, destruction and intimidation, the Bangalees are marching forward in terms of economic prosperity. What they appear to be lacking in is their cultural pursuit. But this tends to prove a myth if the nation can demonstrate the spirit of Baishakh and Ekushey with the ardour it has done this time. There is need for connecting with the roots. Notwithstanding the many odds on its journey, the nation is slowly but surely moving towards its cherished goal.