A rollicking slogan of Bengal assembly elections 2021 is TMC’s “Khela Hobe,” or the game will be played. In response BJP has raised the chant “Vikas Hobe,” or development will take place. Yet more than these, two other slogans more accurately encapsulate the Bengal contest: TMC’s “Jai Bangla” versus BJP’s “Jai Shri Ram.”
Will Bengal vote according to Bengali identity, Bengali culture, Bengali language and resist majoritarian Hindutva whose locus is in north India? Tamil Nadu is known to vote for the Dravida-Tamil identity premised on a fierce opposition to north Indian brahminical Hinduism and Hindi language. Yet the attachment to Bengali identity isn’t as emotionally charged. In Bengal the Hindi language doesn’t evoke anger or hostility.
Moreover, the Dravida movement started Read More
