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Bangladeshi nationalism (Bengali:বাংলাদেশী জাতীয়তাবাদ) is a conservative form of civic nationalism that promotes the territorial identity of Bangladeshis. It originated as an ideology that emerged during the late 1970s and popularized by former President Ziaur Rahman. The history of nationalism in the country dates back to the colonial era, when the region started witnessing anti-colonial movements against the British Empire. Soon, a sense of religious nationalism began to emerge that later revolutionised into an ethnonationalism that was the driving force behind the East Bengali liberation war in East Pakistan and the emergence of independent Bangladesh in 1971. However, authoritarian and dictatorial rule and alienation of ethnic minorities post-independence led later leaders to espouse a more democratic civic form of nationalism based on territorial attachment of the people.[1] When army chief Ziaur Rahman came to power, he sought to invigorate state policy and began to promote Bangladeshi nationalism.[1] Politically, Bangladeshi nationalism is mainly professed by the center-right and rightist political parties in Bangladesh, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[2][3]
- ^ a b Uddin 2006, p. 138.
- ^ Absar 2014, p. 444.
- ^ van Schendel & Guhathakurta 2013, p. 332.