Fahmida Zaman, graduate student in the Department of Politics and Government, has published an essay in Bangladesh’s circulated English language The Daily Star. The Perspective piece, titled “Suffering from an Identity Crisis,” traces out the political construction of three problematic politicized identities in Bangladesh: the “Muslim,” “Bengali,” and “Bangladeshi.”
“The assumption that the region’s cultural and religious identities are at war with each is outrageous and ahistorical.” —Fahmida Zaman
Zaman argues that “what is most unfortunate regarding these narratives and the identity crisis is the perceived mutual exclusivity of the ‘Bengali’ and ‘Bangladeshi’ identity. The assumption that the region’s cultural and religious identities are at war with each is outrageous and ahistorical. Bangladesh went through three partitions encompassing a struggle of various factors including religious, social, and economic.”
