Rabindranath illuminated light like the sun

I am remembering Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore with deep respect on his 163rd birth anniversary. Today, I want to share my thoughts about anti-Rabindranath sentiment during the Pakistan period as even after 53 years of Bangladesh's independence, anti-Rabindrasentiments still exist. So, the new generation needs to know the historical context of such ideology.

In 1967, the topic of poet Rabindranath Tagore came up in the National Parliament of Pakistan. It was the month of June and the budget session was underway. The then-ruling party leader Abdus Sabur Khan while addressing the parliament session brought up the discussion in the name of protecting Islam and vilified it which was completely irrelevant. The growing respect and admiration for Rabindranath among the Bangalees made the Pakistan government, the self-proclaimed bearer of Islamic culture, scared. Sabur Khan's taunts about Rabindranath in the National Parliament were a good example of that. But the Bengali parliamentarians of the opposition party did not spare him. A heated debate began.

At one point, Solaiman Khan, a member of the opposition party, said, "Those who raised their voice against Rabindranath will be smashed at the airport if they go to Dhaka." Members of the government party became excited hearing this. Abdus Sabur Khan called opposition party members "Howling Idiots" to cool down his party members.

The next step was to ban the broadcasting of Rabindra-sangeet in the state media. Rabindra-Sangeet singers were subjected to various persecutions. Zahedur Rahim and Sanjida Khatun were particularly vilified. Zahedur Rahim was fired from Dhaka Betar Kendra. He fell ill from the shock and died within a year or two. Sanjida Khatun used to work in a government college. She was transferred from Dhaka to distant Rangpur. But she was a hard nut to crack and she did not give up. She was also a founding member of 'Chhayanaut' Sangeet Vidyaniketan. Later, she wrote, 'I am indebted to the overall situation in Bangladesh in understanding Rabindra Sangeet. As the cultural life of this country suffered, we moved to Rabindra Sangeet with new enthusiasm. The use of various contrasts has made Rabindra Sangeet intimate for posterity. So Rabindra Sangeet has become our sure refuge."

Artists, writers, authors, and intellectuals started protesting against the banning of broadcasting of Rabindra Sangeet over the radio. The statement said: 'Our attention has been drawn to a news published in a local daily newspaper dated 23 June 1967. In this, the decision to reduce and exclude the promotion of Rabindra Sangeet from the government media has been published. We find this decision extremely regrettable. The richness that Rabindranath's literature has given to the Bengali language, and the depth and intensity that his music has given to our feelings, have made Rabindranath an integral part of the cultural being of Bengali-speaking Pakistanis. It is essential to give due importance to the importance of this fact at the time of government policy making.'' Among others, Ahmed Sharif, Neelima Ibrahim, Rafiqul Islam, Anisuzzaman, Shahidullah Kaiser, Fazal Sahabuddin, Zainul Abedin, Qazi Motahar Hossain, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Khan Sarwar Murshid, Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury, Sufia Kamal, Muhammad Qudrat-A-Khuda, Munir Chowdhury, Hasan Hafizur Rahman, Sikandar Abu Zafar, Muhammad Abdul Hye, Shamsur Rahman signed the statement.

Various cultural organizations joined the movement. Under pressure, Pakistan's Information Minister Khawaja Shahabuddin was forced to withdraw the ban on Rabindra Sangeet. Governor of East Pakistan Monem Khan called some professors of Dhaka University and said in a threatening tone, "What do you do? Can't you write Rabindra Sangeet?" Those to whom he said this were not so stupid as to ostracize Rabindranath after hearing this. Instead, they created a curriculum for the study of Rabindra literature in the Bangla Department. It was also a silent protest against the tyranny of the government.

In the book titled 'Rabindranath' edited by Anisuzzaman, poet Shamsur Rahman wrote in his article entitled 'Notun kore Rabindracharcha', 'It is a funny fact that the greatest writer of Bengali literature is also the most controversial man. The debate about Rabindranath has not decreased till today. And sadly, most of those idioms are unliterary.' This 'non-literary' Rabindra controversy has advanced us a lot.

After being released from the 'Agartala Conspiracy Case', Bangabandhu said in his speech at the Race Course Maidan on February 24, 1969, 'We read Mirza Ghalib, Socrates, Shakespeare, Aristotle, Dante, Lenin, Mao Zedong to gain knowledge and the bankrupt government has banned us from reading the writings of Rabindranath, who is a Bengali poet and has become famous to the world by writing poetry in Bengali. We do not accept this system - we will read Rabindranath's book, we will learn Rabindra Sangeet and Rabindra Sangeet will be sung in this country.'

Rabindranath was such a formidable force in our lives that the Pakistani rulers have tried hard to conceal him, or even wipe him out. But they rightly understood that, no matter how much they clamored for the unity of an integral Pakistan, the need for Rabindranath in the development of Bengali nationhood was inescapable.

Rabindranath was the sunshine in the life of the East Pakistanis. Trying to dismiss him from their lives, the rulers have defeated themselves. The consequences are more dire for them. Bengalis just went on their way. During delivering the historic speech at the Ramna Race Course on January 10, 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said, "Kabiguru you wrote, 'satkoti sontaner he mughdho jononi, rekhechho bangali kore manush kironi. But your lines are proved to be wrong. Your Bangalis have become humans.'

Thus, this is how Rabindranath becomes obvious in our lives. When Rabindranath was on his deathbed, World War II was going on. Fascist Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The city of Leningrad was under siege. He was sick but always eager to know the news of the war. Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis wrote in her memoirs, "When the newspaper came, I used to bring it to him. I saw that only the news of the war was of interest, that is, the Germans were only advancing, and the Russians were nowhere to stop them. On the day when he saw that the progress of the Germans was a little hindered, he held the papers close to his face and ran from the first line to the last line. And on the day when it was written in big headlines, German soldiers have successfully advanced so many miles today, on that day he took the paper in their hands and threw it on the ground as soon as the headline read - 'It's done, take it'. His face was gloomy for a long time that day."

On July 3, 1941, when Rabindranath was about to undergo an operation, that morning, he asked to know about the progress of humanity against fascism. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis wrote, "On the day of the operation, his last words to me just half an hour before the operation were: 'Talk about Russia.' I told him that it seemed good. His face brightened. He said: 'Wouldn't it? They will be. Only they can make it."

Rabindranath clearly said, 'The Soviets never accept defeat.' It is not easy to say how much he loved the socialist Soviet Union, but that he was a thoroughly anti-fascist man is clear from his writings and activities. He wanted the Soviet Union to win the war and see humanity triumph over fascism.

I have raised this issue because in 1971, seeing Bengalis fighting with arms, he would have been reassured and proudly said, "I know they will not accept defeat." Bengalis did not accept defeat and fought against a fascist force. The fight has proved how intense is Rabindranath's ideology in their consciousness. This is how we have won politically in passing our existential crisis in East Pakistan. Rabindranath radiated light like the sun.

Selina Hossain: Novelist and the current president of Bangla Academy