New Delhi, March 26 -- A nation is not born in a day; it is argued into existence across generations. As gun salutes roll across Dhaka and the national flag is raised to mark the 56th Independence Day on March 26, Bangladesh will commemorate the occasion carrying more than ceremonial weight. Nations age differently from human beings. A person of fifty-six stands well into middle life, their character largely settled. However, a nation of fifty-six is still young; its institutions may change, its regimes may fail, but its ethos and ideology endure from decade to decade, age to age. A nation's spirit outlasts any political arrangement imposed upon it.

Bangladesh is a latecomer to the world of nation-states that, against all odds, has come ...