The Hindu community in Bangladesh is not accommodated by the calendar followed by Bangla Academy. According to their traditional system, yesterday was Chaitra Sankranti, the last day of the Bengali year. Most Hindu households observed the day with bitter and vegetarian dishes. In some places, Charak Puja was held where possible. So, while there are claims of inclusive celebrations, for the second-largest religious group in the country, yesterday was not the New Year.
Similarly, the ethnic communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and other districts celebrate the New Year at different times. The Chakmas observe Biju, the Marmas have Sangrai, and the Garos celebrate Wangala, none of which necessarily align with the 14th of April. Yet, they are often brought together symbolically to participate in Bengali New Year celebrations. But can Hindus truly join the New Year festivities while observing their own rituals of Sankranti?
It becomes evident that in Bangladesh, the New Year both arrives and somehow doesn't. The Bengali calendar turns its pages, yet a silent marginal indifference lingers in a corner of collective attention. When the state celebrates Pahela Baishakh with pomp and grandeur, nearly 30 million Hindu citizens quietly mark Chaitra Sankranti. Their red-white sarees, dhoti-panjabis, or participation in Mangal Shobhajatra do not register in the cultural framework of the occasion. The New Year celebration becomes a monopolized, partial, and unreflected expression of public consciousness.
This duality of the Bengali calendar is not a sudden blow like a natural disaster. Rather, it stems from a well-planned cultural restructuring. In 2018, Bangla Academy reformed the Bengali calendar, transforming it into a fixed calendar. Aligning it with the Gregorian calendar, fixed dates were assigned to Bengali months—from Baishakh to Chaitra. For instance, 14 April became the fixed date for Pahela Baishakh, and 15 June marked the first day of Asharh.
In Bangladesh, the responsibility of reforming the Bengali calendar has always been led by Bangla Academy. In 1963, the institution formed a committee under the leadership of Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah, titled “Bengali Calendar Reform.”
Although Dr. Shahidullah was a renowned scholar, he led the reform of a calendar system based in astronomy—a domain outside his expertise. The recommendations made by the 1963 committee under the Pakistan regime were never implemented by any subsequent government.
It wasn’t until 1987 that the then military ruler of Bangladesh, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, adopted the previously dormant calendar reform, giving it state recognition. Consequently, Pahela Baishakh was permanently set on 14 April.
Despite many disagreements on other issues, the Ershad, Khaleda Zia, and Sheikh Hasina governments have all followed the same path regarding the Bengali calendar. The current government under Professor Muhammad Yunus has also not deviated from this inherited stance.
What was once a matter of celestial observation was reduced by Ershad to a printed, rigid decision on a calendar page. The problem, however, lies in the fact that the Hindu religious calendar flows along a different current—known as the Surya Siddhanta. The Hindu calendar is a complex astronomical system based on the movement of the sun and the phases of the moon. As a result, it often lags behind or moves ahead of the Bangla Academy’s fixed calendar. When the state steps into Baishakh, Hindu households are still enveloped in the somber tones of Chaitra Sankranti. The discord between festivity and fasting confuses the timeless harmonious ethos of Bengal.
Many dismiss this as a minor discrepancy. But within that “minor” gap lies a profound cultural disconnection. The New Year is supposed to be a day when all communities, across classes and professions, step forward together in unity. Yet, on this very day, a major religious community remains officially absent.
So where lies the solution to this paradox? It lies in the pursuit of unity—not in the politics of dominance. Just as India has a central Hindu calendar board, Bangladesh could also form an all-party Calendar Coordination Council. This body could include Bangla Academy researchers, Hindu religious leaders, astronomers, and historians. We must seek ways to use the Bengali calendar in both religious and civic spheres. One calendar system could be followed administratively, while another for religious observances—or, both could be synthesized through a scientific, inclusive approach.
The Bengali New Year does not belong to any single religion. It is an emblem of a land’s cultural identity. If that identity excludes anyone, it is not merely a calendrical oversight—it becomes a subconscious social irony. If the state truly wants a festival for all, the time has come to bridge this cultural divide.
Because days pass, years change. But if a nation's conscience remains stuck in the same place, no calendar can move it forward.
The absence of a major religious community from a national festival is a form of cultural failure. The disconnection between calendars is not merely a matter of astronomy—it is about cultural inclusion. If the state truly wishes to build a unified nation through diversity, now is the time to find unity in diversity within the Bengali calendar itself.
Author: Journalist
April 15, 2025