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SONGS OF FREEDOM

Liverpool folkie who sang for Bangladesh

Zaid Bin Kalam
Come brothers and sisters of Bangladesh
Unite together and stay that way,
And remember the good times
Are coming at last
The freedom fighters are on their way,
These are the words of a song titled "Freedom fighters" by Lee Brennan, a folk singer and poet of Liverpool, England. Following the March 1971 crackdown by Pakistan army on innocent Banglaees, Brennan rushed to the members of the Bangladeshi community living in Liverpool that time to find a way how he can support the victims.
Within a very short period, Brennan produced a collection of four songs, sold the records on his own effort and donated the money to the war tom people of Bangladesh, recalls Mahbubar Rahman Khan who was in Liverpool then.
Khan, former chairman of botany and microbiology departments of Dhaka University, contacted The Daily Star on December 19 this year and handed over the vinyl record of Brennan's songs.
Khan met Brennan at a Liverpool restaurant called Kismet, whose owner was from Sylhet.
Brennan asked Khan about what he can do to support the struggle for freedom in Bangladesh.
In reply Khan told him, "You are an artist, you can do many things to support us."
Hearing Khan's reply, Brennan went silent for a couple of seconds and said, "I got your point" and then he left.
After four days, Brennan drove his Jaguar and went to Khan's flat and took him and his wife to his house.
There the Khan couple met Brennan's wife and three of his band members.
"I have composed four songs on Bangladesh, I will sing them to you and if you think that they are okay then
I will record them and share it with you," Brennan told Khan.
After listening them, Khan provided some feedbacks based on the life and culture in Bangladesh and Brennan quite humbly readjusted his lyrics and music accordingly.
"He accepted, changed and recomposed his songs which amazed me as a famous singer like him listened to suchanovice like me," Khan said.
"The next day, Brennan took one of my colleagues, Mesbahuddin, then a PhD student of chemistry, to a local music studio called CAM Records Ltd and recorded the collection," Khan recalled.
Khan was one of the members in the city's Action Committee formed under the direct supervision of Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, who became die second president of independent Bangladesh, to organise the Bangladeshi people living in England.
Justice Chowdhury played a leading diplomatic role in building support among the international communities for Bangladesh's Liberation War.
The cover jacket of the vinyl record bears the following message of Justice Chowdhury: "People of Bangladesh will fight unto the last for Truth and Justice. Victory shall be ours. Our grateful thanks are due to Lee Brennan, Dawn, Pete Thomas, John Brown, Jimmy Sefton for their sympathy and support at this hour of our grim struggle." Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, Special Envoy, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
This 45 RPM (rotation per minute) EP (extended play) record disk contains four songs - two on each side. On Side A are: Freedom fighters (2:26 minutes) and Mr Human (2:03 minutes) and Side B: Fight, fight, fight (2:11 minutes) and We will survive (3:22 minutes).
Brennan himself took the burden of collecting funds for our Liberation War by selling the records, said Khan.
Brennan used to sing the songs he composed on Bangladesh at pubs and restaurants of Liverpool and sold the copies if listeners felt interested.