The Southern Asian region is a bunch of geographically contiguous countries that share common historical bonds,
cultural and social identities and economic, political and strategic interests, with a desire to live in harmony and
cooperation. The people, cultures and religions (or ethnicity) of the region are inextricably interwoven. Boundary
demarcation invariably cuts across communities and nations. There are matrimonial alliances, family ties and
social, cultural and ethnic associations across the borders between India and all the South Asian nations. The
nation-building process in this region is unique and different from the other regions as it has been under the
clutches of foreign powers for a long. However, since 1990, the region has started marching towards development.
The paper deals specifically with the Bengali ethnicity in India and Bangladesh and how the border shapes and
reshapes the nation-building in the region. The artificially created Borders in 1947 due to the partition of the subcontinent have been determining the ethnicity dividing social, cultural, political and economic systems and identity,
nations and even social relations. The paper critically examines how the same Bengali ethnicity helps nationbuilding in Bangladesh but becomes a grave danger for nation-building in India.
REALITY AND VISION.