 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
The Liberation War and Creative Writing
Published on December 16, 2006 Wars of liberation have always exerted a deep and widespread influence on the literature of the peoples concerned. The patriotic and revolutionary zeal as well as the exaltation and suffering accompanying such wars have left their mark on the creative writing of man in our lime and before. If one views liberation wars as not limited only to the struggle against a foreign colonial power but from a wider perspective, one is likely lo recall in this context such writers, among others, as Maxim Gorky and Mayakovsky of Russia. Ivan Vazor and Nikolai Vaptsarov of Bulgaria. Garcia Lorca of Spain, Louis Aragon and Paul Eluard of France. Bertolt Brccht of Germany. Nazim Hikmet of Turkey, Pablo Neruda of Chile and Augustine Neto of Angola. However in this article we do not propose to take such a broad view of the subject. For our purposes here. by liberation war we shall mean the war waged by the people of Bangladesh in 1971 against the Pakistani neocolonial occupation forces, at the successful conclusion of which Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign and independent nation in December of that year ; and by creative writing we shall mean poems, short stories, novels and plays, the universally recognized major forms of literature. The ruthless exploitation of the Bengali people, the people of the then East Pakistan, politically, economically and culturally, by the Pakistani rulers for over two decades and finally the genocide unleashed on them by the Pakistani military junta in March 1971 made the liberation war of Bangladesh historically inevitable. It was a people's war in every sense of the term. The entire population of occupied Bangladesh, barring a few quislings, rose against the occupation army. The writers, too, played their part. Some of them not only wielded their pens but also literally took up arms and fought in different sectors of the war. The experiences of the liberation war inspired our writers to write on this theme. As a result, we have a sizeable body of creative writing based on it, practically in all the genres of our literature. In the creative writing of Bangladesh inspired by the liberation war, one finds, at one level, the picture of the heroic struggle of the freedom fighters, the fear and anxiety-ridden life of the common people in captive Bangladesh while the liberation war was being waged, the vile deeds of the brutal Pakistani occupation soldiers and the inhuman torture suffered by the activists of our resistance movement in the enemy's prison camps. At another level one finds, along with the note of revolutionary ardor, a desire for a new way of life, free from tyranny and exploitation, dreams of a society where secular, democratic and egalitarian values would prevail. While our creative writing has been reflecting these elements in varying degrees since the liberation war, I must say that it cannot always lay claim to much literary merit or artistic excellence. Not infrequently, it is melodramatic and sentimental; it lacks genuine feeling and betrays signs of an artificial design; and it often merits classification as journalistic or documentary rather than authentic creative writing. In spite of the above critical comments, however, a general examination of the creative writing of Bangladesh connected with its liberation war is not without a certain interest. Let us, first, take a look at poetry: while dealing with the theme of liberation war, our poets present such diverse emotions as hope, anger, despair, heroic protest and unflinching determination. During the early years of independence, a note of joy and hope dominated. But later, as the anxiously awaited fruit of independence, that is, a positive improvement in the quality of life of the common man, receded further and further, that note was replaced by one of disillusionment, satire and criticism. Let me quote for the readers some extracts from a few poems by some of our well-established poets which will give them some idea of our poets, diverse approaches to a common theme. Here is a quotation from Shamsur Rahnian's poem called No. I shall not go. "Now a days I hardly come across In fact, pursued by fear, Yet, I shall not go, no never, In another famous poem by the same poet called, Liberty, you are one finds a different note altogether; joyous, hopeful, and romantic, replete with evocative imagery. Here is an extract from that poem: "Liberty you are my mother's
white sari Yet again in another poem by Shamsur Rahman, instead of the tender, romantic, happy note one comes across a note of fierce anger and hitter hatred. I quote a few lines from the poem I Curse Them. "I curse today those devils of
hell Let me quote a perceptive Indian critic's comment on this poem: "There are not many poems in any language to compare with the concentrated fury and corrosive anger of this, unless one goes to Isaiah or Ezekiel or Jeremiah"(Amalendu Bose in the introduction to Shamsur Rahman: Writers' Workshop, Calcutta, 1975). In many poems inspired by our liberation war one finds powerfully projected the conviction that the people's firm determination, courageous heart and the justness of their cause will surely triumph over the superior armed might of the evil enemy. One recalls, for example, The opening lines of Syed Shamsul Haq's poem March 01. 1971, which go like this:
One comes across the same theme, glowing with moving imagery, in Nirmalendu Goon's poem Firearm which I quote below in full:
But besides the note of anger, hope or pride, some of our poems, after the first flush of independence following the successful termination of the liberation war reveal a different emotion- They are full of frustration, resentment, satire and harsh criticism. One recalls Ahul Husain's poem called We, too have a land where the poet lashes out against political chauvinism and says that our land exists in the songs of the poets, in the slogans shouted at public meetings, and on the maps in hooks of geography. One finds the spirit of resentment, against self seeking political leaders who failed to provide a square meal to the hungry people in independent Bangladesh, more directly expressed in Rafiq Azad's famous poem - Give me Food, Bastard, whose closing lines are:
There is not a single reputed poet of Bangladesh, old or young who has not written on the theme of our liberation war. And many other poets, not yet established or widely known, have also written on that theme. An anthology called Poems of Liberation War, containing one hundred poems by fifty four poets, edited by Abul Hasnat was published in 1984. In the introduction to that volume Shumsur Rahman, perhaps the most widely read and admired poet of Bangladesh, wrote"-
Rahman went on to add that the liberation war had provided a new turning point in the poetry of Bangladesh and that the experience enabled her poets to blossom in newer ways. The above assessment is perhaps over- generous, though it must be said that any discussion of the poetry of Bangladesh, from whatever angle one may choose to look at it, will remain grossly incomplete if the theme of the liberation war is left out of consideration. In the field of fiction, too, one finds the experiences of the liberation war providing our writers a major theme. Anwar Pasha's Rifle Roli Awrat (Rifle, Bread, Women) was written in 1971 in captive Dhaka even as the liberation war was being planned and organized by the resistance workers. This our first novel of liberation war is remarkable on many counts. One is immediately struck by the central character's humanism, liberal ideas, secular outlook, and commitment to life and progress. Towards the end of the hook the author gives Sudipta, the hero, an opportunity to witness the joining of forces by Bula, the communist leader, and Jamal, the nationalist activist, as if to highlight The importance of such unity in a national liberation struggle. The novel also successfully presents the picture of opportunists and self-seekers. who have neither a sense of personal honor nor any love for their native land. But their portrayals are notable for their restraint and avoidance of venom or bitterness. In fact a warm humanism permeates the entire hook and yet it was Anwar Pasha's tragic fate to he picked up from his home and killed by the fascist collaborators of the occupation army just two days before Bangladesh was liberated. Among other novels of our liberation war one recalls easily Showkat Osman's - Jnhannam Hoite Bidai (Departure from Hell). Nekre Aronyo (Of Wolves and the Jungle), Dui Sainik (Two Soldiers) and Jalangee (The River); Showkat Ali's Yatra (The Exodus); Amjad Husain's Obeldi Osomoye (Bad Time Inopportune Hour); Syed Shamsul Haq's Neel Dongshon (Blue Bite); Nishiddho Loban (Forbidden Incense ); Rashid Hyder's Khanchai (In the Cage); Ondho Kothamala (Blind Verses) and Nosto Josnai E Kon Aronyo (What a Forest is this in Rotten Moonlight); Rabeya Khalun's Ferari Shurjo (The Absconding Sun); Ahmed Safa's Omkar (The Sound of Om); and Selina Husain's Hangor, Nadi. Grenade (Shark, River and Grenade). In these works we find reflected. sometimes authentically and with sensitivity, sometimes with a certain exaggeration and melodrama, the hopes, fears and anxieties of those difficult days ; a vivid, passionate and powerful indictment of the atrocities perpetrated on our people by the enemy soldiers and the death-defying heroism and self-sacrifice of our humble unlettered common folk. Showkat Osman's slim and episodic novel Nekre Aronyo has been called a precious spiritual document of the liberation war of Bangladesh by one of ours critics; Syed Haq's two novels are characterized by sophisticated treatment of brutal incidents and a subtle manipulation of language; Selina Husain's novel, set in a remote riverine rural area of southern Bangladesh, dealing with illiterate common men and women, achieves a commendable integration of theme and style and brilliantly highlights the essence of all that is heroic, noble and glorious in our freedom struggle. In spite of the basic unity in regard to theme, one notices clear diversity in the approach, background material, and style employed by our writers in their works on the subject. Sometimes the novelists have recourse to explicit symbolism as in Khcmchai or Omkar; sometimes they employ the flash-back technique as in Ondho Kathamala; sometimes they deal with middle-class urban characters as in Yatra, sometimes the selling is in rural Bangladesh as in Dui Sainik; sometimes they project the overpowering feeling of despair and frustration among the erstwhile freedom-lighters as they see in post-war liberated Bangladesh their hopes of building a new way of life receding further and further as in Nashto Joisnai E Kon Aronya. One finds associations of the liberation war of Bangladesh in Mahmudul Haq's Jivan Amur Bon (Life, My Sister), too, but the romantic overtones of love, mixed with sex. predominate there and the hero seems to he knocked out by a sense of defeatism and ennui. Rashid Karim's Amar Yoto Glani (All My Shame) also has associations of our freedom movement but it revolves more around the hero's personal problems and his morbid self-analysis than around the larger issue of the liberation war with its multiple ramifications. However, from the point of view of literary craftsmanship, psychological insight into characters, and manipulation of language, Rashid Karim's novel has certain positive merits. One could say nearly the same thing about Mahmudul Haq's Jivan Amur Bon, although as a novel of the liberation war, thematically speaking, a more attractive work is Hahib Harun's Priyo Yoddha. Priyotomo (Beloved Warrior, Dearest), which, interestingly, is developed in the background of the liberation struggles of Bangladesh and Yugoslavia, not directly, hut through reminiscences, when the hero, a wounded freedom fighter goes to Yugoslavia from Bangladesh for medical treatment. When all is said and done, I must say that, generally speaking, our novels having to do with the liberation war fail to capture and reveal the essence of (hat traumatic and cataclysmic event with real artistic excellence. Most of our novels dealing with this theme arc slight, both in scope, planning and execution. Many are, in fact, novelettes, rather than novels proper. Many again, rely too heavily on lurid imagination, melodrama and high-strung emotionalism. World literature has given us some remarkable novels in this area with truly epic dimensions. We are still awaiting such works from our novelists.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
||
|
|
||||
|
|
 |
 |
 |