Ask not my country Or state. Ask not my trade Or job. Ask not my tongue Or region. Ask not the colour Of my blood. Ask not what i like Or dislike. Ask not what i dream Or pen. Ask not if i have An orchard or a flower garden. All are irrelevant! Ask what i eat And what i not. Ask what i wear And what i don’t. Ask if i a visitor To holy lands. And if not satisfied Ask the last important one, “What’s your name?”
Tagore! You are our poet, our identity, Our leader, our mentor, To whom we return At dark nights and in shining days. Tagore! You are a torch-bearer, A cool shade to trammeled millions. Wo/man you celebrate And we are your avowed followers Our land you inherit And make us tall Before the eyes of the world. Thousand miles of woes and wounds You walk alone with calm and poise, And we wonder how! You are a symbol of protest Against unreason, superstitions, Bordered minds, narrowed walls Of caste, creed, religion, language And we love you
Abstract: Key Keywords: Literature, Bengali Muslim, Identity, Representation Literature whether it is regional, national or global always inspires, invigorates, and energizes us to look at life’s great mystery and miracle from multitude heterogeneous contours. It deepens the meaning of life in its colourful and painfully beautiful foliages— splendours and glories, hopes and aspirations, loves and expectations, sorrows and tears, strength and endurance, death and doom, diseases and pathos, the courage and resilience of a sea of humanity. And Bengali Muslim literature aims at giving many of the said life’s innate shades to humanity in general and to the Bengali Muslim in
Na kisee kee aankh ka noor hoon Na kisee key dil ka quaraar hoon Jo kisee key kaam na aa sakey Main v eek musht-e-ghubaar hoon -Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775-1862) Introduction Of every four persons in West Bengal, roughly speak ing one is a Bengali Muslim. Despite their numerical density and participation in different socio-economic activities their identity is basically singular, based only on their religious affiliation. They are solely “Muslims”. All other identities (Bengali, professional, educational, economic, residential etc.) are never acknowledged and often suppressed by popular lazy media, and concocted, unscrupulous power-hungry religious and political leaders and even