Bangali Student Association at Cal

"The region of Bengal has a deep tradition of oral literature and folklore, passed down generations from village to village. Bangla was a language of the people. Bengal was a region of agriculture and Bangla was a language that articulated the ecology of the area, described patterns of the land, the weather, and the rivers." In honor of Ekushey February, please feel free to read one of the Bengal Gazette's first articles about the Bengali Language Movement titled "Bhasha Andolon" by Aishah Mahmud. #EkusheyFebruary #BhashaAndolon

"When honored guests visit your home, you love to share with them the things you treasure most. This same thought set me on my mission to translate Tagore’s poems/songs to share with the world what treasures we have in our home. Indeed, I know of no better gems in my possession!" Check out Professor Basu's translations of Rabindranath Tagore's poems on our latest post from the Bengal Gazette!

JOIN THE BENGAL GAZETTE!!! We are UC Berkeley's first South Asian student-run publication founded in 2018 and are now making a presence at other universities (both in the U.S. and back home in Bangladesh & West Bengal) as well as beyond college campuses. From our culture, history, diaspora, politics,, arts, literature, and of course food, we are committed to being a platform for all those interested in learning about Bengal. The Bengal Gazette is now accepting applications f...or Writers, Editors and Designers for the Spring 2021 semester! We are a Registered Student Publication at UC Berkeley, devoted to covering all topics related to Bengal, led by students faculty & dedicated community members. Our first informational meeting is tomorrow @ 8 PM PST! Zoom Meeting link: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/98456530800. Our application deadline is Sunday, February 7, 2021 at Midnight! Feel free to message our page if you have any questions. !! ================================================= APPLICATION FORM: https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSeWA-gRGQV2_Ew56/viewform

"Cooking, feeding, and eating make up the South Asian love language. Surely, trying to change it would seem like sacrilege!" Read Saif Chowdhury's article on the South Asian culinary revolution taking the fine-dining world by storm!

Join us for our first general meeting of the semester and make some new bondhus at Cal! See y'all there!

In our latest article for the Bengal Gazette, Isha Lahiri writes about research carried out by the Chronicling Resettlement project on the post-Partition resettlement of refugees from East Pakistan in West Bengal. "In the end, the migration of refugees and their rehabilitation are almost universal and intrinsic to processes of nation-building and perhaps a close engagement with them may help address pressing questions about existing modes of state surveillance, governance and accessibility of resources."

The British Raj owed its existence not to any government directive or monarchical decree, but to a company--specifically, the Honorable Gentlemen of the East India Company (EIC). In this article, guest author Geraint Hughes explores the rise of the EIC, and the role played by its most pivotal figure, Robert Clive, the "heaven-sent general".

The Bengal Gazette website is now live! Check out our first article, "Memories of East Pakistan," written by Anushah Hossain!!! "Jasmin Smith grew up in East Pakistan, the wing of Pakistan that later became the country of Bangladesh. She was born to an Urdu-speaking Bengali father and Bangla-speaking Gujarati mother. When the Liberation War of 1971 established a new Bangla-speaking country, Ms. Smith’s acquaintances began to ask her why she was still there. She would say, ‘I’m Bengali. Where am I supposed to go?’ Anushah's latest piece for the Bengal Gazette delves into the experiences of the East Pakistani diaspora, Facebook groups as digital archives, and her own relationship to Bangladesh.

"From Purdah to Parliament." Happy Birthday to Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah! Born in Kolkata on July 22, 1915, Shaista was one of the first female politicians in Pakistan, a delegate to the United Nations, Ambassador to Morocco and the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London.... As a delegate to the United Nations in 1948, Shaista was the only Muslim and, besides Eleanor Roosevelt, the only other woman to help draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Shaista advocated for the emphasis on freedom, equality and choice in the Declaration. She championed the inclusion of Article 16, on equal rights in marriage, which she believed was a way to combat forced marriage and child marriage. As one of two women elected to the Constituent Assembly to Pakistan in 1947, Shaista was one of Pakistan's first politicians famous for representation of her Bangali constituents, the rights of religious minorities and women's rights. Her most important accomplishment in Pakistani politics was her 1951 passage of personal laws guaranteeing Pakistani women full inheritance rights against the wishes of traditionalists at the time. Aside from politics and diplomacy, Shaista is one of Pakistan's most famous writers. Her autobiography, "From Purdah to Parliament," tells her story of her life as one of the first South Asian Muslim Women in her generation to leave purdah and pursue an education and later a career that would actively shape history during the late and post colonial period. Today, Shaista is a tremendous source of pride for Pakistan and one of the most influential Bangali Muslim women in history. A diplomat, politician, author and fighter for the Bangali people.

The Bengal Gazette is back!!! New Articles will be posted every Friday on our brand new Bengal Gazette website which will be featured here on our BSA Facebook page! Students, Alumni, Parents & Community members are invited to apply if interested in publishing articles, cooking recipes, art and all things related to Bengal! We are interested in your stories and ideas, and we accept submissions from students at universities across the world too! ... _______________________________________________ 240 years ago, the Bengal Gazette was the first newspaper ever published in Asia by Irishman James Hickey in 1780. The Original Bengal Gazette printed 400 copies a week and had a huge readership of both Bangali and British readers in Kolkata, setting a historically unmatched standard for free speech. Today, the Bengal Gazette is an official UC Berkeley student-run publication dedicated to all topics related to Bengal, uniting the voices of Undergraduates, Graduates and Faculty here at Cal. From our history, politics, culture, tradition, art, literature and of course, FOOD, the Bengal Gazette strives to be a timeless platform for UC Berkeley students to write about and learn about Bengal. We are both a print magazine and a mobile platform, hoping to make a presence not just at Cal but throughout the Bangali Diaspora. Hope you read us this summer! #TheBengalGazette #BengaliRenaissance2020

In wake of recent events around police brutality, the Board of Bangali Student Association has released a statement showing solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the Black Community here at Cal and everywhere. We have gathered resources for South Asians on how to be active Allies in this difficult time. #BlackLivesMatter https://docs.google.com//17jE3xmRla3XMqLwiBg2FftJHyE/edit

We hope everyone is doing well during these uncertain times. Many in Bangladesh are suffering from lack of food, money and sanitation supplies during this epidemic. Please consider donating in the link below. ECHO is buying crops and produce from local farmers in need of business and redistributing them to families that need food. Please refer to the flier on how your donation can make an impact. Thank you for your generosity. You can donate HERE: http://www.echo-usa.org/do...nate-now For more information on the organization you can like their Facebook page and youtube channel: https://www.facebook.com/ECHO.USAnetworkforhelp https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSj3jSIpJVa-XkviS-uYVkA

!! Happy Bangali New Year 1427! On March 3, 1575, the Mughal Emperor Akbar conquered Bengal and incorporated it within his growing empire. By 1586 as part of Mughal rule, the new Bengal province comprised of modern-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and parts of Assam & Odisha, and introduced the Bengali Calendar. Akbar asked his royal astronomer to devise the Bengali Calendar which coincides with the Islamic Hijri Calendar, historical Bengali calendar (based on the anc...ient Sanskrit astronomy text Surya Sidhant) and Akbar’s own date of coronation in order to time the tax year with the harvest. Today, Bengalis worldwide commemorate the first day of the calendar with our Pohela Boishak celebration. As we rejoice and remember what makes us proud Bangalis today, let us also remember the history that allows for such timeless tradition. Depicted below is a Mughal style painting showing Emperor Akbar praying following a victory in Bengal.