Slogans like ‘Inqilab Zindabad’ have no connection to Bengali identity, says power minister

While the “Gen-Z” may take pride in it, Iqbal laments that the slogan evokes internalised struggle rather than true Bengali spirit

Power Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud has rejected slogans such as “Inqilab Zindabad”, emphasising that they have no roots in Bengal and belong to those who once sought to suppress the Bengali language.

Speaking at a Language Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day event in Sirajganj, he said the nation must advance with a firm embrace of its own language and identity, rather than adopting foreign or historically imposed slogans.

“If we are to truly honour Bengal, to call Bengali our mother tongue, slogans such as ‘Inqilab Zindabad’ cannot guide us. ‘Inqilab Zindabad’ or ‘Inqilab Moncho’ have no connection to our language or heritage -- they belong to those who once tried to take our mother tongue away,” he said.

Acknowledging potential criticism, he added: “Some may brand me a ‘servant of India’. Still, I speak the truth, because I went to the Liberation War with my life at stake, and this land is why I became a minister.”

He reflected on the younger generation’s fascination with the slogan, saying: “Today’s generation may take pride in it, but within themselves, there is only internalised struggle.

“I consider myself a nationalist from head to toe, which is why I joined the Liberation War. Even if I had not gone, I would have tried.”

He also recalled his involvement in leftist student politics and later the Naxalite movement, wryly noting: “But society moves in the opposite direction; now we are seeing it unfold.”

Speaking on the historical struggle for language, he said: “The British and Pakistanis inflicted great harm here. Our mother tongue was suppressed to oppress us. Those who sacrificed their lives in the 1952 movement sowed the first seeds of Bangladesh, which later fuelled the 1971 Liberation War.

“Young people must think carefully; otherwise, our country risks drifting ‘far right’.”

He added, “Because we never truly learned our own language, our sense of nationalism did not fully develop. We must build our own country and culture ourselves -- no one else will do it for us.”