"আমার সোনার বাংলা
আমার সোনার বাংলা,
আমি তোমায় ভালবাসি|"
I guess Rabindranath has spoken of the Bengal that is in every Bengali's heart. Yes, the Bengal that this much honoured Bengali has spoken of is undivided politically, religiously and in spirit. If there has to be a political division, it must be done on the basis of only the aspirations of the people of the soil. Religion as a basis of seperation has always favoured a minority population with vested interests. I think no child of Bengal ever wanted a passport to visit his/her brother/sister. If we blame the British over the division of Bengal, then I guess it is time that we acknowledge our own mistake of not fulfilling the general aspiration of a common Bengali in 1971.

When we share the same language, the same clothing styles, the same food, the same culture and the same icons, why can't we have a Bengal sans passport? Who is one Manmohan Singh, Indira Gandhi, Mujibar, Sheikh Hasina or a Mamta Banerjee to decide the collective fate of all Bengalis?

Alas! human societies have always depended on a single person to take a decision or lead the way. Rabindranath, Nazrul and all the famous luminaries do not belong to Paschim Bangla or Bangladesh. They belong to Bengal or Bangla, which extends from the red soil clad Birbhum to the plains near Tripura and from the Himalayas near Darjeeling to the coast of Chittagong. We must be ashamed that even after 65 years of the departure of the British, we have not been able to unify ourselves enough to correct their mistakes. I will still wait for the day when we can sing in unison the famous two lines of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika: " Ganga amar ma, Padma amar ma"