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Call to re-explore the works of Munier Chowdhury

Discussion and memorial meeting at Shilpakala

Nad la Sarwat
A lively discussion on Shaheed Munier Chowdhury was organised by the Department of Theatre and Film, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) on June 7. The three-hour event, which held concentration of the audience till the end, was held at the seminar hall of The National Theatre Stage.
Kamal Lohani, director general of aftd also acted aS the moderator of the discus-' sion. Sara Ara Mahmud, director of the department of Theatre and Film, presented the welcome speech. Dr. Mohammad Jainuddin presented the keynote paper on the life and works of
the litterateur-playwright, focusing especially on his plays and how the contemporary generations evaluate his creation. Professor Abdus Selim, Dr. Soumitra Shekhar, Professor Ratan Siddiqui and theatre personality Ataur Rahman were present as discussants. President of ITI, Ramendu Majumdar; Asif Munier, theatre activist and the son of Munier Chowdhury, along with a number of theatre practitioners, activists and literary enthusiasts were also present at the event and participated at the discussion.
"Though most of us remember Munier Chowdhury as a playwright, he was also a litterateur, educationist, translator, director, actor and theatre activist. Braving an indifferent atmosphere and limited opportu-nity for cultural activities, he was devoted to developing our theatre and successfully did so. Uis views on life were developed through an assimilation of contemporary thoughts, history, and cultural heritage — making his literary works secular, liberal, humanitarian and progressive. But in an independent country where there are so many possibilities, his presence is not strongly felt. What's left are his works, which will always be a source of inspiration for generations, said Dr. Mohammad Jainuddin in his paper.
The next speaker. Dr. Abdus Selim, remembered the inspiring personality of Munier Chowdhury as a wonderful teacher, persuasive orator and devoted activist.
Dr. Soumitra Shekhar in his charged speech noted, "Our evalua tion of Munier Chowdhury seems to be limited to the play 'Kabor,' a great work in its right. His works mostly remain unexplored though: we could not actually present his work to our young. In our interpretation of the play "Raktakto Prantor," we teach our students how powerful the central character Zohra is, who sided with her religion, refusing to respond to her heart. But Munier Choudhury offers a parallel to the reader, which is Hiron Bala. Most of us ignore Hiron Bala as a marginal character, though she represents an epitome of true human emotions. Munier Chowdhury wrote the play under a grant from the then Pakistani government to uphold Muslim heroism in the third battle of Panipath. What he delivered through the play is a strong antiwar message."
Sharing his fond memories of Munier Choudhury, Ataur Rahman said, "If Munier Chowdhury didn't exist, our plays would have remained only as literature. Through his direct effort as a playwright, director, actor and organiser, he developed plays as a co-operative art form, and shaped our theatre. He was, in all sense, a modern man."
Through the discussion the demand emerged to re publish his works, trit 1 tiding short stories, essays as well as plays, as they are not readily available in the market. Kamal Lohani expressed his willingness to work on this issue. The event ended with reading out excerpts from works of Munier Chowdhury and poetry recitation.