BBC's greatest Bengalee
We should not get carried away by the BBC's latest "Greatest Bengalees of All Time" survey. One can easily question the validity of this survey. In the age of Satellite TV, it is questionable how many people of Bangladesh really listen to the BBC's Bengali Service. It has an assumed audience of only 12 million, out of 250 million Bengalees living in Bangladesh and West Bengal. According to Sabir Mustafa, the head of BBC Bengali Service, "Thousands participated in the survey from Bangladesh, eastern India and other countries of the world," If he literally meant thousands, I would readily question the 'representativeness' of this survey.
I think this type of study should be done with careful research, not by some so called popular survey. A lot should go into judging who should be the greatest Bengalee of all time, not just by a questionable survey. Can the greatest Bengalee of all time be really identified by a survey participated only by thousands? I don't think so. Frankly speaking, this type of surveys are meant to last a short term. This doesn't mean, however, that I don't think Sheikh Mujibur Rahman should not be adjudged the greatest Bengalee of all time. Probably he should be, but this is a totally different issue.
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