Bengali nationalism

Bengali nationalism is the political expression of ethno-national consciousness of the Bengali people. These people live in the region of Bengal. The territory is divided between Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.

The ethno-linguistic region of Bengal.

Creation of Bangladesh

The Bengali Language Movement and its fallout had created a lot of cultural and political hostility between the two parts of Pakistan. Despite making up a majority of the Pakistani population, Bengalis were only a small part of Pakistan's military, police and civil services. Ethnic and socio-economic discrimination against Bengali people in East Pakistan made them angry. Because West Pakistanis were influenced by Perso-Arabic culture, they saw Bengali culture as too closely associated with Hindu culture. One of the first groups demanding the independence of East Pakistan was the Swadhin Bangal Biplobi Parishad (Free Bengal Revolutionary Council).