Bangabhumi
Encyclopedia
Bangabhumi also known as Bir Bango (Bangla:বীর বঙ্গ), is a separatist movement to create a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 country using southwestern Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, envisioned by politicians from West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Banga Sena
Banga Sena
The Banga Sena is a separatist Hindu organization which advocates formation of a separate homeland for Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh. The group is led by Kalidas Baidya....

 of Hindu of West Bengal.

The movement was founded in 1973 in India soon after Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

i independence
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....

 to support the Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, who were targeted by the Pakistani army in the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities
1971 Bangladesh atrocities
Beginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 and continuing throughout the Bangladesh Liberation War, there were widespread violations of human rights in East Pakistan perpetrated by the Pakistan Army, with support from local political and religious militias, especially...

 based on ideas of reconquest. However, this movement did not receive much support at that time. In an interview with BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

in 2001, Chittaranjan Sutar, one of the alleged organisers of the movement, denied any existence of the movement at that time. The movement openly became active again in 2003 when it declared the independence of Hindu Republic of Bangabhumi.

The Flag

The flag of the proposed Bangabhumi state comprises of one third green color and two third of saffron color. In the middle of the saffron part is a white disc symbolizing the sun. I guess the similarity to the Bangladeshi flag is intentional. Although the meaning is not explained, one can assume the green part would represent the Muslim minority in otherwise Hindu state, something like the Pakistani flag does with their minorities. The National Emblem is depicted by the green circle in another, saffron colored circle with word "Shri" (symbol of beauty and prosperity) written in the saffron circle. The National Anthem is a song of poet Dijendra Lal Roy: "Dhana Dhanye Pushpe Bhara, Arnader Ei Basundhara" ("This land of ours filled with crops and flowers").

Conflicts

Even though no violence has so far been reported committed by these groups, the Bangladeshi government is concerned by this movement.
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