Editorial Assistant
There is no greater achievement in our national life than the struggle for independence and the Liberation War. Countless poems have been written about these subjects. Poet Shamsur Rahman portrayed independence, the Liberation War, and patriotism in poetry with a powerful and aesthetic touch. His poems have found a place on people's lips, in slogans, on placards, wall writings, banners, and festoons. Like:
SM Sultan is an unparalleled name in our world of art and literature. He was literally a son of soil. A bohemian by nature he used to vanish sometimes without telling anyone. He lived in his home in Narail with wild animals and rare species of venomous snakes. It was a dark, abandoned house which once belonged to a zamindar of Narail. Bushes and moss surrounded the house on the banks of the Chitra River.
The monsoon always held a special place in the heart of Rabindranath Tagore. It was not just a season but a muse a rhythm that echoed in his verses and the sky under which his creativity soared.
“The Bengali Muslim society fears independent thought the most”—this comment was made by writer Ahmed Sofa. He made the remark in his essay “Bangali Musalmaner Mon” (The Mind of the Bengali Muslim). Explaining the context of the essay, his disciple, writer and professor Salimullah Khan, said, “The Bengali Muslim is not actually an ethnic group. It is the name of a particular class, who are Muslims and speak Bangla, and who suffer from an inferiority complex because of it. A specific section of the exploited class among Bengali and Muslim people, who have not overcome this inferiority complex, they are the Bengali Muslims. Even though times have changed, the crisis of this inferiority complex has not been resolved. This is why the poor state of the Bangla language at all levels still persists.”
The moment the name Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed is uttered, the image of a teacher, poet, fiction writer, organiser, environmental activist, and television personality floats before us. Many of his speeches have gone viral on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube—speeches that are extraordinarily educational and profoundly insightful. He speaks about every branch of knowledge—science, literature, culture, poetry, teaching, politics, economics, and organisation—with such enchantment that the listener cannot help but be mesmerised. When he speaks, everyone listens in awe. As if he speaks, and the rest simply listen. His words are full of reflection and analysis; he captivates us in an astonishingly magical language.
We were growing weary watching the political unrest. Anxiety, fear, and terror were becoming normal to us. We saw how brutally the ruling powers could carry out massacres just to hold onto control. We were shocked at the sight of corpse upon corpse. We saw how the reins of a nation could pass from one tyrant to another. We witnessed how people, under the guise of patriotism, turned into traitors. We saw how they placed their hands on holy scriptures and told despicable lies. We saw how the plundering class looted billions and billions without consequence.