The classic Bengali bhadralok must embrace “the other” to survive, a Bengali bhadralok said at the Calcutta book fair on Thursday. Women, Muslims, backward classes, Dalits and tribals must be welcomed by the bhadralok, insisted Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chairman of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, chief adviser to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and former Bengal chief secretary. ADVERTISEMENTOn Thursday, he discussed his new book, Bangali’r Mon (the Bengali mind), which was launched at the book fair on the same day. Sections of the book address the existential crisis that hangs over the notion of the Bengali bhadralok and the remedies to alleviate it. The bhadralok must even respect the entrepreneurial and intrepid spirit of people who don’t speak Bengali but live in Bengal,” Bandyopadhyay said at the launch.

Source: The Telegraph January 30, 2026 02:18 UTC