Bengalis
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Bengalis (Bengali বাঙালি, Bāngāli, [baŋgali]) are people whose mother tongue is Bengali and who live in or come from the historical region of Bengal. The Bengali self-image is overlaid by state affiliation (Indian or Bangladeshi) and religion (usually Hindu or Muslim), but is firmly embedded in the Indian cultural tradition. The Bengali language thereby forms a continuum of understanding with the neighbouring Indo-Aryan languages of northern India. Ethnically, too, the Bengali population corresponds to that in northern India; only a darker skin color is somewhat more common, and one occasionally encounters Tibetan-Burmese traits.
Outside Bengal, larger groups also live in several major Indian cities, especially New Delhi, as well as in Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. Also, many workers in the Arab Emirates are Muslim Bengalis.
As a nation of Bangladesh
The secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971 in bloody independence struggles had no Bengali nationalist motives. The reasons were not only social but mainly political, as the Pakistani government prevented attempts to implement federal principles. These included the election of a Bengali president for the entire state of Pakistan and the full recognition of the Bengali language as an official language with equal rights. The struggles were supported by India. Today, when Bengalis highlight their culture, such as the Bengali poet Tagore, it is because they understand it to be an important part and root of Indian culture.
