shamsur rahman

Shamsur Rahman- as A Reader Feels

Palash Biswas*

Published 18 August 2006

I won't forget the evening in Kolkata in 1991. I was a newcomer in Kolkata. I stumbled to a personality no less than the charming, powerful poet of Bngladesh, Shamshur Rahman via his beautiful poetry. I was in the press and I saw a poetry collection on the table of an artist. I opened the book and sat down to settle for the entire evening to go through the lines. The beauty, the diction, the power and content with a solemn style mesmerized me. It was the beginning and I never stopped to read poetry from Bangladesh.

I belong to a partition victim family settled in Uttaranchal in early fifties. I was born and brought up there destined to inherit a divided history, divided geography, divided culture and heritage. My father used to come Kolkata for books every year and we read Rabindara Nath, Bankim, Sharat and even Sukanta Bhattacharya. We had the access to West Bengal based classic literature and we had no idea about the literature beyond the border. In my college days, I had the translations of Tarashankar, Manik, Shankar and other prominent Bengali writers. But only in 1980, when I shifted to Dhanbad I had the taste of some contemporary writings of Mahashweta Devi, Prafulla Roy, Snil Gangopadhyaya, Shankha Gosh, Nirendra Nath Chakrabarti, Subhash Mukhopadhyaya, Shakti Chattopadhyaya. Since 1991, I began to read the Bangladeshi Literature extensively and I found no one near Shamshur Rahman in aesthetics and content consideration and his commitment was unquestionable. Shamsur Rahman was indisputably the greatest poet of Bangladesh, with more than sixty books of poetry to his credit. And no one should have any doubt about it.

One of the great contemporary poets of Bangla literature, Shamsur Rahman, passed away yesterday. Bengalies across the border and worldwide are in mourning. Under Pakistani Rule, the poet from East Pakistan had been a regular contributor to the well reputed Bengali Magizines of Kolkata like Kavita( editor- Buddhadev Basu) and Kirtibas ( editor- Sunil Gangopadhyay). Literary circle in Kolkata feels the shock no less than their counterpart in Dhaka. He was 77only. He breathed his last at 6:35pm at the BSMMU (PG) Hospital in the capital. The death sent a massive shock to the Bangla speaking people at home and abroad. He died when the attending doctors removed the life-support �with the consent of his family� after spending 12 days in deep-coma at the hospital. The poet was admitted to the hospital on August 6 with multiple complexities. Thousands of mourners thronged the hospital to have the last glimpse of their beloved poet, amid a pall of gloom, as the news of his demise broke in the city.

Poet Shamsur Rahman was born in Dhaka in 1929. Fourth of 13 children of his parents, he studied at Pogos School, Dhaka College and Dhaka University. He started writing poems after graduating from Dhaka College at the age of eighteen. Rahman studied English literature at Dhaka University. He had a long career as a journalist and was the editor of the now defunct vernacular national daily, Dainik Bangla. He won numerous awards, including Bangla Academy Award (1969), Ekushey Padak (1977), and in 1991 he received the highest national award �the Swadhinata Padak (Independent Medal). The renowned critic, Syed Manzoorul Islam, speaks of Rahman as having "produced a solid body of work which has permanently changed the geography and the climate of Bengali poetry. He has given it a new dimension and a meaning, he has created an ethos which belongs indisputably to him. He has given us a language, which we did not have. It is true he has built on the ground of the 30's poets, but he has developed the ground, explored into areas they thought too dark for exploration, has added new features to it, landscaped it and in the process left his footprints all over." The critic, Z. R. Siddiqui, describes Shamsur Rahman as one who is "deeply rooted in his own tradition." In his opinion, Shamsur Rahman "still soaks the language of our times, transcending the limits of geography. In his range of sympathy, his catholicity, his urgent and immediate relevance for us, Shamsur Rahman is second to none."

Shasur Rahman did not flee from Bnagladesh even in the days of 1970 -1971 and he did not stop writing. He was expressing the voice of freedom without any fear. He was the most secular intellectual in Dhaka. He said 'no' to Islamic politics and 'yes' to human rights. Shamsur Rahman was the unofficial �poet laureate� of Bangladesh. He chaired a national committee of editors, writers and artists dedicated to resisting fundamentalist forces opposed to individualism and democracy. Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam was named as being behind his attempted murder in early 1999, as part of a plot to kill at least 28 prominent Bangladeshi intellectuals. Harkat was described as a group allied to bin Laden; its members style themselves as the "Bangladeshi Taliban." Rahman was attacked in his home. Three men affiliated with Harkat stormed into his apartment wielding pickaxes. Rahman's wife was seriously injured, but he was not hurt. Neighbors in his apartment building apprehended the men and held them until police arrived. The attackers admitted that they intended to kill the poet. They also stated that their group planned to attack more intellectuals like Rahman, who held outspoken secular views. As we are now and supported by others, in spite of the limitations of Islamic Rule and lack of democratic setup, Bangladeshi friends sustain their pro-people stand always. According to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, there is a strong current of secularism in Bangladesh, but if that is so, it does not show so far.


Women	Human Rights violation		Great Personalities		Humor