Bengali and Bangladeshi are not the same word, there is a difference.
Never use the word Bengali as Bangladeshi.
There is a difference between the people of Bangladesh and India regarding the word Bengali. Especially, the people of these two countries often use the words “Bangladeshi” and “Bengali” in daily conversation. People of other languages often confuse the difference between them. However, the two words have different meanings. “Bangladeshi” refers to the citizens of the country of Bangladesh. That is, those whose national identity is Bangladesh, those who carry a Bangladesh passport are Bangladeshi. Bangladeshi identity is a nationality or citizenship-based word. In this, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians of all religions, all ethnic groups such as Chakma, Marma, Santal, etc. of Bangladesh are all Bangladeshis. And the word “Bengali” is not an identity based on any nationality or citizenship. The word Bengali refers to linguistic identity.
Those who speak Bengali and are the bearers of Bengali culture are called Bengalis. This word Bengali is not limited to Bengali speech only. In West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Andaman Islands of India, numerous people speak Bengali, so linguistically they call themselves Bengalis. In addition, expatriate Bengali speakers living in different countries of the world also identify as Bengalis. Bengali identity is mainly based on language, culture and group identity. The main difference is that Bangladeshi is the national identity of only the people of Bangladesh. Bengali carries a group and linguistic, cultural identity, it does not carry an identity based on the citizenship of any country. People who speak Bengali along with different languages of different countries of the world use the word Bengali for their linguistic identity, especially the citizens of India identify themselves linguistically as Bengalis. For example, we can say that a person from Kolkata speaks Bengali, his citizenship is Indian, he calls himself Bengali, but he is not Bangladeshi, because his citizenship is Indian. Bangladeshi means a citizen of Bangladesh. Bengali means the bearer of Bengali language and culture. Let me define Arab citizens more simply. For example, Arab citizens are those people whose national identity is linked to citizenship of a country in the Arab region. Those who speak Arabic are called Arabs. According to information, there are about 22 countries in the Arab League that speak Arabic. Notable among these are: Citizens of countries that speak Arabic are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Palestine, etc. Although the citizens of these countries have some differences in pronunciation, they all speak Arabic. They call themselves Arabs as their ethnic and linguistic identity. But in terms of their citizenship-based identity, Saudis, Kuwaitis or Qataris all have different identities in the name of their own country. Similarly, even though they speak Bengali, the citizens of Bangladesh are Bangladeshis, and the citizens of India are Indians, but in some cases, those who speak Bengali in India are heard to identify themselves as Bengalis. Basically, the word Bengali is not an identity of any citizenship. Request to everyone to never use the word Bengali as Bangladeshi.
Writer Journalist Moin Uddin Sarker Sumon
President Bangladesh Press Club Kuwait
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