Telugu origin people in Bangladesh and Bengali refugees in Telangana preserve their culture

Telugu origin people in Bangladesh and Bengali refugees in Telangana maintain their cultural heritage and patriotism despite the boundary divisions created during the partition of India. With recent developmens concerns are rising about safety of Telugu origin people in Bangladesh

Jeddah: Even as the Bangladeshi society is limping back to normalcy after the recent political upheaval leading to ouster of Shaik Haseena government, concerns are being raised over the safety of Telugu community people living in Bangladesh.

There are over 40,000 people of Telugu origin living in Bangladesh. These Telugu Bangladeshis are those who preferred to stay back on Bangladesh side following the partition of India and Pakistan at the time of Indian independence. Those living along the newly demarcated boundary after Bangladesh was formed, identified themselves as belonging to the land, regardless of religious affiliations.

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This sentiment led to thousands of Telugu descendants remaining in present-day Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan. They are now fully integrated Bangladesh nationals, maintaining their cultural and linguistic identity. On the other side, Bengalis, who relocated to different parts of India including Telangana became patriotic Indians, while retaining pride in their Bengali heritage.

During the partition, Bengal’s residents had the option to cross the boundary based on religious lines, but many chose to stay where their ancestors had lived. Among them were Hindus of Telugu origin mostly from the North Andhra region, now residing in Bangladesh. There are an estimated 40,000 Telugu speaking people in Bangladesh now, mostly living in and around Dhaka. Those in Dhaka primarily work as marginal laborers, while those in the Sylhet area are affluent and engaged in tea plantations and other businesses. Many of them work in low-wage cleaning jobs in Dhaka, it is said.

“Our ancestors rejected the two-nation theory, and so do we,” says Yesu Ratnam, a Telugu-origin Bangladeshi living in Dhaka. Speaking to this correspondent over phone from Dhaka, he expressed pride in his dual identity. He spoke fluent Telugu, the language he learnt from his parents and is now teaching to his children.

The community in Sylhet takes pride in their Bangladeshi patriotism while preserving their Telugu culture. Chompa Naidu, a young software professional, is fluent in Telugu and takes pride in her heritage. Like many other Hindus, her ancestors chose to remain in their homeland, and they commemorate Bangladesh Independence Day on March 26.

On the Indian side of the border, some Bengali Hindus were forced to flee their homes in the 1960s from what was then East Pakistan. They settled as refugees in different parts of India including Telangana. Most of them in Telangana were settled in the forests of Kagaznagar, in Adilabad district. The refugee camps eventually developed into five villages. One among them called Nazrul Nagar, named after the renowned Bengali poet Nazrul Islam, popular in the area.