How to properly align org table with mixed English-Bengali script?

Question

I am unable to tidy up this table, so that last column is properly aligned, as the other two:

|-----------+----------------+------------|
| English   | Bengali s.     | Bengali w. |
|-----------+----------------+------------|
| Monday    | Shōmbār        | সোমবার     |
| Tuesday   | Monggolbār     | মঙ্গলবার    |
| Wednesday | Budhbār        | বুধবার      |
| Thursday  | Brihoshpotibār | বৃহস্পতিবার  |
| Friday    | Shukrobār      | শুক্রবার     |
| Saturday  | Shonibār       | শনিবার     |
| Sunday    | Robibār        | রবিবার     |
|-----------+----------------+------------|

No matter what I do, I can't have Org-mode make it look proper.

Is there a command that help with mixed English-Bengali scripts?

I am using Emacs 27.1 with standard Org-mode, with fixed-width Hack font. Other fixed-width fonts also do not seem to help.

Is this possible at all, or shall I report this as a bug (or feature request)?

Answer 1

The glyphs in your Bengali font are not the same width as the glyphs in the font you're using for everything else. In fact, your main font very likely doesn't have any Bengali glyphs in it at all, so Emacs is falling back to other fonts that you have installed on your system. With the glyph shaping that Bengali requires, it may not even be possible to have a properly monospaced Bengali font.

You can position the cursor over the Bengali text and type C-u C-x = to find all the details about the text at that location, including the font that supplied the glyph.

Edit: It's not a bug. Org Mode relies on the font being monospaced to line up the columns, and when you mix scripts you frequently lose that ability. You wouldn't be the first to suggest that columns should be sized based on pixel sizes, but Emacs currently doesn't make that easy.