Liberation War and saga of singers
“I was a young adult in 1971. I was not the bravest; I hadn't killed anything except mosquitoes. All I had was music in my heart and my voice. After the March 25 crackdown, I started looking for the location of Shadhin Bangla Betar so I could join it, but nobody knew exactly where it was. Some said it was in Ramgarh, some said it was in the Hill Tracts.” Anup Bhattacharya was recounting his story of joining the Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, at an evening of powerful melodies and stories of struggle at the Daily Star Centre. The installment was titled “Ekattor-er Gaan” and featured artistes of Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra and Mukti Sangrami Shilpi Sangstha.
“I reached Kolkata in June and eventually found the station. I met Rafiqul Alam, Lata (Kaderi Kibria) and others; thus began our life at SBBK,” Bhattacharya said. “I produced a few songs for SBBK. We went to Melaghar once; there was a camp of Freedom Fighters. They lived in such adverse conditions, and faced unthinkable challenges on the battlefield. Compared to them, we were far better off.”
Jahangir Hayat Khan, Rupa Farhad and Mala Khurram, shared stories about their father, the late Abdul Jabbar Khan, who was the director of the first film made in the erstwhile East Pakistan (“Mukh O Mukhosh”). “It was said that the weather of East Pakistan was not suitable for film making. My father challenged it, and made the film, based on the novel 'Dakat'. There were no film artistes, no studio, and no recording arrangement. Most of it was arranged in a makeshift manner. When the war broke out, my father took me to Kolkata in April and I joined SBBK; I played guitar for all the songs recorded there,” said Jahangir Hayat Khan.
Rupa Farhad then shared the story behind a special song, “Chand, Tumi Phirey Jao”, that was written and composed by Ajit Roy when the moon of the Eid-ul-Fitr was sighted in 1971, and played all day on Eid. The lyrics, “Dekho manusher khuney khuney roktim Bangla, rupali aanchol kothaye rakhbey bolo”, evoked morbid images.
Kaderi Kibria opened with an anecdote; “During our travels, we were stopped by the Pakistani forces once; I was asked to say I work in films and sing. They asked me about Mohammad Ali, who was a famous Pakistani actor. But I had a neighbour who was also a musician by the same name. So I said Mohammad Ali was like a friend of mine. And then I sang Mehedi Hasan's ghazals. They let us go. I was captured once again in Kashinathpur, where all the others captured were killed. I went to a camp, where a Freedom Fighter recognised me. He suggested that I go to SBBK, and took me to Kolkata.”
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