Voices Grow Louder

Art Installations, inspirational music and handmade posters have kept Shahbag alive. Photo: ATL AAKASH

For the first few days of the “Occupy Shahbagh” movement, many seemed agitated that almost none of the leading cultural personalities were at the “Projonmo Chattar”, or raising their voices as loudly as they could. But now the cultural fraternity is expressing its solidarity with hundreds of thousands. Singer Kabir Suman, from across the border, was the first to release a song on his website on the movement, titled “Gonodabi”, while popular musicians Shakib Chowdhury (from Cryptic Fate) and Bappa Mazumdar were featured in “Prerona”, a song by Sandhi (from the band Mohakal). As the songs went viral on the web, a number of groups began making short films and animations to encourage the movement.
Singers Mahmuduzzaman Babu and Miftah were also spotted at the heart of the movement in the past few days, taking up the microphone at times with the singing crowds and chanting slogans.
A number of rock bands also geared up to perform in a street show in front of the Public Library yesterday, singing inspirational songs. The performances, under the title “Projonmer Gaan”, are expected to continue in coming days featuring more artistes.
Apart from the physical presence, young writers, actors and other media personalities are voicing their support for the movement in the cyberspace. London-based Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam has been active on micro-blogging social site twitter since the beginning of the movement, while the likes of actor Iresh Zaker and director Redoan Rony, who have tens of thousands of followers on Facebook, have relentlessly been sharing news, photos and updates about Shahbagh.