Practice of eating Panta-Ilish on Bangla New Year poses threat to Bangladesh’s Hilsa resource

The culinary delight of a Hilsa dish is an inseparable part of Bangla New Year celebrations, but experts say the practice has no roots in a thousand years of Bengali tradition.

If anything, the practice is of recent origin – a marketing gimmick, they maintain, and has a role in reducing the Hilsa fish stock.

Welcoming the New Year is a now a national festival in Bangladesh, observed by all in ways resources permit. But having a dish of panta-ilish (a combination of rice soaked in water overnight and Hilsa fish) has become a must on Day One's menu.

Where does it come from?

Bengali culture has evolved by shedding and picking up practices over time but it is hard to find any reference to Panta-Ilish being a Bengali food delight.

It is only natural that rice would be the staple in a country where paddy has been the main crop since recorded history.

This habit of eating rice was a contribution of the proto-australoid groups. Rice was the main food of the rich and the poor in society, though with variations in cooking.  

A collection of songs and poems in Prakrit - Prakrit Poingal - dating back to the 14th century has a reference to "pure 'ghee' (clarified butter) and hot rice".  

There is a more detailed description of rice in Naishadh Charitra: "Steam rises from the served rice, each grain is intact, each separated from the other. That rice is well-cooked, tasty, white, thin and aromatic." 

All this suggests that it was a Bengali practice to eat hot, frothy, ghee-laced rice.

What else was eaten with rice?

A couplet says 'the husband of a woman who serves him hot rice, ghee made from cow milk, 'mourola' fish curry and 'paat' herbs is truly blessed'.

The Brihaddharma Puran recommends fishes such as 'rui', 'punti', 'sol' and white, scaly varieties.

Jimut-bahan speaks of Hilsa fish oil as well.

But no ancient text recommends the eating of 'panta-ilish'.

Fish found a special place on the plate of people living in Bengal, a land of many rivers. Aryan culture, however, never quite looked kindly at the Bengali's fondness for fish.

But religious fiats failed to curb the Bengali's well-entrenched habit. Finally, Bhabadeb Bhatta and other scriptural experts concluded at the end of much debate and discussion that one could freely eat fish barring on certain auspicious days. 

The New Year is now like a day of festival. But it did not have that status in those days.

This upstart practice of eating Hilsa on that day is of recent origin. It is the brainchild of some shopkeepers who put up stalls during the New Year celebrations at Ramna or the Mangal pageant of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Dhaka University, both of which draw large crowds.

The practice they introduced was soon adopted by others. The ritual of eating Hilsa has nothing to do with ancient Bengal or the Bangla New Year.

Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University teacher Prof Kazi Ahsan Habib says the eating of Hilsa on Pahela Baishakh, the Bengla New Year, is not only harmful for the fish stock but can even destroy this prized resource.

He said a law to protect the country’s fish resources was passed in 1995, prohibiting the catching of any fish less than 23cm or 10 inches in length.

Hilsas of this size are called ‘jatka’, constituting a crucial phase - lasting from November to May - in the lifecycle of the species. It is also a time when Hilsa catching is prohibited.

But despite the ban, 60 to 70 percent of ‘jatka’ fish are caught between March and May, when they are just about 10 inches long.

And there is no denying that this illegal catch is, to an extent, prompted by the huge demand of the fish around Pahela Baishakh and prospects of handsome profits.

A countrywide unseasonal craving for the fish may lead to a fall in its supply during the catching season and adversely affect its stock.   

“If this goes on year after year, the fish could become extinct one day,” warns Habib.

He added that the economic survey of 2013-14 showed that the Hilsa accounted for 11 percent of Bangladesh’s fish resource, having a monetary valur worth Tk 170 billion.

The fish contributes about one percent to the national GDP, and provides livelihood to nearly 2.5 million people. Its extinction could deal a massive blow to people it sustains.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the inflation rate has for the first time fallen below 6 percent in 40 months. It was 5.62 and 5.65 in February and March respectively. But a collective rush to buy Hilsa could again push inflation above 6 percent. 

In a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Councilm Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal had said excessive purchase of Hilsa could increase inflation by at least 0.01 percent, a dangerous trend in economic terms.

All these aspects should be kept in mind before one buys Hilsa or sits down to eat the fish, Habib advised.

*Source of history of the Bengali’s food habits – Niharranjan Ray: Bangalir Itihaas