Bangla WikiMoitree
Bangla WikiMoitree
Wikimedia thematic network and aspiring hub for Bengali culture and language
Welcome to Bangla WikiMoitree
Bangla WikiMoitree is a strategic international network which has been designed to foster a close communication, coordination, and mutual cooperation among Wikipedia communities, affiliated organizations, the users and informal collectives around the Bengali language and linguistics, culture and heritage. This platform provides an organized space for all involved, enabling us to work together by exchanging our experiences and knowledge, carrying out joint projects, and undertaking long-term strategic planning.
Bangla Wikimoitree's activities extend beyond geographical boundaries. It is not limited to just Bangladesh and the Indian State of West Bengal; rather it working towards bridging an effective and sustainable connection among the Bengali speaking communities spread across the globe. The way Bengali language with its diverse dialects, regional cultures, and folk traditions is dispersed globally, Bangla Wikimoitree wants to celebrate just that diversity and unity.
This internet works in line with the core ideals of the Wikimedia movement—open knowledge, inclusiveness, and multilingualism—to elevate the Bengali language to a well-established position in the international open knowledge space. At the same time, it aims to pave the way for the expansion of Wikimedia activities in regions where no organized Bangla Wikimedia community has yet developed. Bangla WikiMaitri is committed not only to strengthening language-based connectivity, but also to building a foundation of greater cultural cooperation and bonding. Through this platform, anyone—who believes in free learning and cherishes the heritage and identity of Bengal—can consider himself a part of a larger, united and dynamic movement.
Historical background
Historically known as Bengal or Bongo, the history, tradition, culture and language of the people of the present state of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal are the same, but unfortunately, they have been separated by an international border drawn by the colonial powers for almost 75 years. Yet for over a decade and a half, volunteers from Bangladesh and West Bengal have been working together to build Wikimedia projects in different languages spoken in the two regions, including Bengali. Recognized as the national language of Bangladesh and one of the official languages of various parts of India, including West Bengal, Bengali is considered as the fifth most spoken mother tongue in the world due to being the mother tongue of 300 million people. Volunteers from the Wikimedia community came together to form the Wikimedia Bangladesh Chapter and the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group in 2017 to organize their projects further. Wikimedia Bangladesh is currently the only Wikimedia chapter in South Asia. These two cross-border communities have organized various online and offline projects together at different times, including the international conference that celebrated the tenth founding anniversary of the Bangla Wikipedia in 2015. Every year at Wikimania, the two Bengali communities meet for the Bangla Wikimedia to discuss ways to work more closely together.
Why Bangla WikiMoitree?
Although in the past various formal and informal online or offline collaborative projects have been organized between Wikimedia Bangladesh and West Bengal user groups and regional communities in Bangladesh and West Bengal, it has always been felt that there needs to be a closer and holistic relationship with each other to highlight the presence of Bengali language, culture and heritage through digital medium. The discussions on the strategy of the Wikimedia movement have provided a golden opportunity to formally build cooperation in the form of the Bangla Wikimaitree. This cooperation is also keen to build an international that will contribute to the creation of new communities in the northeastern Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, etc., and in Bengali-speaking community areas in different parts of the world, where there is no Wikimedia community or volunteer group yet. This will help build Wikimedia communities coming from languages and cultures that are historically closely related to Bengalis in minority languages and/or different regions in the majority Bengali-speaking regions.
Workplace
Bangla Wikimaitree seeks to work in the following areas:
Organizing collaborative programs with the aim of enriching the Bengali language—along with all its dialects, culture, and heritage—through digital media
Developing and improving timely and appropriate technologies for the Bengali language
Establishing close connections between the Wikimedia communities of Bangladesh and West Bengal
Assisting in the formation of new Wikimedia communities and groups in various Bengali-speaking regions, including Tripura, Assam and other parts of Northeast India, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and beyond
Supporting the creation of Wikimedia communities and groups among Bengali diaspora populations living in different parts of the world
Providing assistance to initiate communities and Wikimedia projects for various minority languages in majority Bengali-speaking regions such as Bangladesh, West Bengal, and Tripura
Supporting the development of communities for languages that have historical connections with Bengali culture
Providing a strong collective voice to present the issues of all communities, partners, and informal groups associated with this network to the global community
Meetings
Bangla WikiMoitree organizes regular monthly online meetings. An offline meeting was also held at the Wikimania Conference in Singapore in 2023.
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