The BBC (Bengali Service) of London, UK conducted an online survey (opinion poll) about the "Greatest Bengalis of all times", " in 2003-2004 and the results were announced from 26 March of 2004 to April of 2004 (one name in one day starting from 20th position to 1 position). At that time Begum Khaleda Zia, her BNP and her Jamat Razakar partners were in power. In that poll during the BNP/Jamat rule, Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujib came in first, Poet Rabindranath in second, Rebel Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in third and Gen. Zia came in the 19th positions.
There was also another online opinion poll/survey conducted in 2006 (most probably) by Mr. Biswajit Shaha of Muktodhara of New York about the Most Popular Living Bengalis of the world. In that poll 10 most popular living Bengalis were selected but not ranked from 1 to 10, and they are:
Sheikh Hasina
Khaleda Zia
Dr. Amartya Sen
Dr. Muhammed Yunus
Humayun Ahmed
Dr. Zafar Iqbal
Sheikh Hasina
Khaleda Zia
Dr. Amartya Sen
Dr. Muhammed Yunus
Humayun Ahmed
Dr. Zafar Iqbal
Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury
Sunil Gangopadhyay
Samoresh Mozumder
Dr. Kamal Hossain
I am quoting from Reece Jones of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA:
(START QUOTE):
Searching for the greatest Bengali: The BBC and shifting identity categories in South Asia
National Identities : Vol. 10, No. 2, June 2008, 149165
Reece Jones of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Dr. Kamal Hossain
I am quoting from Reece Jones of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA:
(START QUOTE):
Searching for the greatest Bengali: The BBC and shifting identity categories in South Asia
National Identities : Vol. 10, No. 2, June 2008, 149165
Reece Jones of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
In Spring 2004, following the British Broadcasting Company's naming of Winston
Churchill as the greatest Briton of all time, the BBC Bengali Language Service
conducted a survey of its twelve million listeners to determine the greatest Bengali of
all time (BBC, 2004). Respondents were asked to rank their top five choices and in
the end more than 100 individuals received votes. The top twenty were announced
one per day beginning on 26 March, Bangladesh's Independence Day, and ending on
15 April, the Bengali New Year's Day, with the naming of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
as the greatest Bengali of all time. Sheikh Mujib, a leader of the Bangladeshi
independence movement and the first prime minister of Bangladesh, easily beat the
second place finisher Rabindranath Tagore, the winner of the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1913 and the author of both Bangladesh's and India's national anthems.
The BBC Bangla Language Service's list of the top twenty Greatest Bengalis is as follows:
(1) Bangabandhu [friend of Bengalis] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
(2) Rabindranath Tagore,
(3) Kazi Nazrul Islam,
(4) Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Haque,
(5) Subhas Chandra Bose,
(6) Begum Rokeya Sakhawat,
(7) Jagadish Chandra Bose,
(8) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar,
(9) Mawlana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani,
(10) Raza Ram Mohon Ray,
(11) Shaheed Meer Misar Ali _ Titumir,
(12) Lalon Shah,
(13) Satyajit Ray,
(14) Amartya Sen,
(15) Martyrs of language movement,
(16) Dr Muhammad Shahidullah,
(17) Swami Vivekananda,
(18) Attish Diponkar,
(19) Ziaur Rahman, and
(20) Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy.
(END QUOTE).
In can be mentioned here that Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman received almost double the votes that the second position holder Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore had received. Poet Tagore also received more than 50% more votes than Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam (Third position) had received. Other people down the list were nothing to the popularity of Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman even in the hostile environment in Bangladesh when Bangobandhu's name could not even be uttered in Bangladesh and his name was officially banned from all Government publicities/publications in Bangladesh by the BNP/Jamat Government..
I salute Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, Bangladesh, for giving us the freedom by breaking Pakistan.
Thank you.
JOY BANGLA, JOY BANGOBANDHU.
Dr. Mohsin Ali, New York.
A Freedom Fighter of 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh
Known by his secret name "Bichshu Raja" during 1971 Liberation War in Chalan Beel area of
Natore District (Greater Rajshahi District).
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