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Munier Chowdhury: A son remembers

Jamil Mahmud
On December 14, 1971, when the members of the Al-Badr abducted Professor Munier Chowdhury, his son Asif Munier Tanmoy was only a child of four. At present he is a young man of 41. Alongside his friends, Asif runs a theatre troupe and work professionally in the field of Theatre for Development (TfD) at present. In a conversation with The Daily Star, Asif recalls his memories of his father and talks about his present activities.
As he was only four, there are not many memories that remain in his mind about his father. He said, "1 hardly can remember some of my father's memories like when he used to bring me when he went to programmes or usually 1 was seated next to him when he drove our green Toyota car. He often brought me to the Uni-
versify (Dhaka University, where Professor Munier Chowdhury was a teacher of the Department of Bangla)."
Asif has been involved with theatre activities since 1985. He worked with Theatre for several years. In 2001, along with friends he established Bongorongo Natyadal. "Initially I had no plan to continue in theatre but when I found a connection of my father's work with theatre activities soon 1 changed my decision, " said Asif.
"Every member in the troupes that 1 worked for discussed my father's work, which inspired me a lot," he added.
So far Bongorongo Natyadal has staged three street and three stage plays. Amongst three stage plays, "Jugalbandi" is a production that contains two plays of Shaheed Munier Chowdhury.
For the upcoming year, Asif plans to work on other plays of his father including "Raktakto Prantar." He has also planned an improvisational work of "Kabor." A documentary on his father's life and works is part of his plan as well.
"I always feel some binding to work on my father's works
but I cannot give sufficient time due to my profession," said Asif.
Asif also works for the Theatre for Development (TfD) since 1998. TfD is a kind of theatre that generates awareness among the masses through theatre performance. "It is a kind of inspiration that I find in my profession," he said.
On present theatre activities of the country Asif pointed to some obstacles as well as some positive aspects. According to him, "We should produce more quality productions than we did in the 1970s and 80s. But very little of that quality do we find at present in the theatre in Dhaka."
Theatre activists' preference for electronic media is the other aspect that Asif calls a lack of dedication for theatre. In his words, "Lots of young theatre activists at present prefer to work for TV channels. It sometimes creates lack of dedication for theatre. As a result the audience too show their interest in stardom rather quality acting, though there are lots of inspirational aspects too in theatre practice. Theatre activists always stand against social inconsistencies and work for several movements, including the trial of war criminals."
Asif does not like to compare himself with his father. He said, "It would be irrelevant to compare my work with that of my fatlier. My father lived in times that were very much different from ours. He witnessed the Language Movement at the age of 20. The cultural movement of the 1940s was on aspects different for those in our times.”
"When my father was abducted he was
45 years old and by that time he had created some of the best works of Bangla theatre," he added
"I want to work from my point of view so that I can create my own space," concluded Asif.