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"The spirit of the Liberation War will burn bright"

Zahangir Alom
A spirited Freedom Fighter and eminent artiste of Shadheen Bangla Betar Kendra (SBBK) Mahmuder Rahman Benu strongly believes that the spirit of the Liberation War will burn bright. At 71, the veteran singer continues to harbour the dream that Bangladesh will in a true sense achieve democracy, socialism, secularism and nationalism for which he, along with all other Freedom Fighters, fought so hard.
Benu's involvement with SBBK began during the Liberation War in 1971. Determined to contribute to the cause of liberation, he joined other singers who would go around war camps and stirring patriotic songs to boost the morale of the Freedom Fighters.
In Benu's words "Indra Mohan Rajbongshi, Kalyani Ghosh, Abdul Jabbar and others were active at the SBBK station located in Ballygunge, Calcutta, (now Kolkata) India. To boost the morale of the Freedom Fighters and 10 million refugees we would go around the
camps and sing patriotic songs. We would perform at four to five camps a day.
"The book "Rupantor," written by Shahriar Kabir, depicts our 23-year struggle and mass movements against the repression of the Pakistan army. The book incorporates stirring songs like "Janotar Shongram Cholbei", "Phul Khelbar Din Noy Auddo", "Jessore, Khulna, Bogra, Pabna, Dhaka Barisal, Noakhali, Tara Hindu O Noy Muslim Noy Tara Shudhu Bangalee". We performed 12 songs a day in each camp.
"We performed patriotic songs composed by Panchakabi at the camps. Our songs at
.. .Mahmuder Rahman Benu
the camps included "EkbarTora Ma Boley Daak" and "Je Tomaye Ghhare Chharuk," I would call this the most inspired period of my life, a time when patriotic people united to sacrifice their very lives for the sake of the motherland."
Though the veteran singer has firm faith in the post-Liberation War generation, he cannot help but be despondent. "We had vivid dreams about a democratic political system, but a huge number of people have died in the ongoing political turmoil ... Is this democracy or the cause for which we fought?
"We dreamt of socialism, a classless and secular society where Muslims, Hindus, Christians and the Buddhists would be equal citizens of Bangladesh. We were fired too by the righteousness of the Liberation War."
What makes Benu's contribution to the cause of Liberation all the more remarkable is that he was not a professional singer. As professor at the Department of Statistics of Dhaka University and mathematics teacher in a school during the
Liberation War, he decided to put his love of music to practice.
Recalling the days of the war, he says, "One of my co-singers Moshad Ali was an inborn genius who would write songs en route to various camps. Moshad Ali wrote "Pak Pushuder Marte Hobe Cholo Rey Nao Dhaiya, Nouka Ebar Chole Moder Juddher Saman Loiya." The moved freedom fighters and refugees at the camps would take heart from his compositions. Bipul Bhattacharya is no more. My heart aches when I visualise the singers' spirited faces during wartime."