The Bengal Observer reports that Bill Clinton’s My Life is being published today in Bengali, the language of Bangladesh. Interestingly the report says:
The book has created sensation in the world recently. The book is the first ever Bengali translation in the country but also in this sub-continent.
The noted scholars and personalities responsible for the editing and translation of ‘My Life’ were Akimur Rahman, Dr. Nurul Haque, Shaheen Reza Noor, Mosharraf Hossain, Mohammad Shahidullah, Shamsur Rahman, Mahmood Menon Khan, Kamal Morshed Milton, Sarwar Hossain, Mostahid Hossain, Bisjwajit Basu and Abu Sayeed Khan.
I presume that ˜first Bengali translation” claim simply means that this Bengali translation is the first one made of Bill’s book in Bangladesh and in India Bengali being widely spoken in Calcutta, and other regions of India. There have surely been previous Bengali translations of other books, especially if Bangladesh can dedicate so many scholar translators to the task.