Literary Assessments of Tagore by Bengali Muslim Writers

Though Rabindranath Tagore was not a Muslim, he was far from being a communally narrow Hindu and, though a Brahmin, was of the marginalized Pirali subcaste. Moreover, he was liberal and irenic in his ideas, and above all, culturally a Bengali. Thus it is not surprising that fellow Bengalis who were Muslim and themselves intimately concerned with the language, literature, and other aspects of Bengali culture would take a serious interest in Tagore. But the extent of that interest and the intellectual and emotional quality of the assessments of Tagore and his work by the many Bengali Muslim creative writers, intellectuals, and public figures surveyed here - including those who opted for India in 1947 and those who opted for East Pakistan and later Bangladesh - are impressive in their scope, diversity, and intensity.