Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano

Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano Ekushey February ( _bn. আমার ভাইয়ের রক্তে রাঙানো একুশে ফেব্রুয়ারি) is a Bengali song which was written by Abdul Gaffar Choudhury to mark the Bengali Language Movement in the 1950s in East Pakistan. The song title is translated as "My Brothers Blood Spattered" or "My Brothers Blood Spattered 21st February". The motif of the song is

Can I forget the twenty-first of February
incarnadined by the blood of my brother?
The twenty-first of February, built by the tears
of a hundred mothers robbed of their sons,
Can I ever forget it?
Wake up all serpents,
wake up all summer thunder-storms,
let the whole world rise up
in anger and protest against the massacre of innocent children.
They tried to crush the demand of the people
by murdering the golden sons of the land.
Can they get away with it
at this hour when the times are poised
for a radical change?
No, no, no, no,
In the history reddened by blood
the final verdict has been given already
by the twenty-first of February.
It was a smooth and pleasant night,
with the winter nearly gone
and the moon smiling in the blue sky
and lovely fragrant flowers blossoming on the roadside,
and all of a sudden rose a storm,
fierce like a wild horde of savage beasts.
Even in the darkness we know who those beasts were.
On them we shower the bitterest hatred
of all mothers brothers and sisters.
They fired at the soul of this land,
They tried to silence the demand of the people,
They kicked at the bosom of Bengal.
They did not belong to this country.
They wanted to sell away her good fortune.
They robbed the people of food, clothing and peace.
On them we shower our bitterest hatred.
Wake up today, the twenty-first of February.
do wake you, please.
Our heroic boys and girls still languish in the prisons of the tyrant.
The souls of my martyred brothers still cry.
But today everywhere the somnolent strength
of the people have begun to stir
and we shall set February ablaze
by the flame of our fierce anger.
How can I ever forget the twenty-first of February?
[Translated by Kabir Chowdhury] [Glassie, Henry and Mahmud, Feroz.2008.Living Traditions. Cultural Survey of Bangladesh Series-II. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Dhaka. pp.578-579 ]

Later, the song was recognized as the most influential song of the Language Movement. The song is sung every year in the "probhat feri", the march in barefoot towards the Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the martyrs. The song was first set to music by Abdul Latif, but later the composer Altaf Mahmud changed the tune to the present version. It is regarded by the listeners of BBC Bengali Service as the third best song in Bengali.

Writing of the song

The song was first published anonymously in the last page of [insert newspaper name] with the headline "Ekusher Gaan" (the song of the twenty first). It was later published in Ekushey's February edition in paper. The song was initially written as a poem. The cultural secretary of Juboleague gave the poem to Abdul Latif to put to a tune. Afterwards, Latif Atikul Islam first sang the song. The students of Dhaka College also sung the song when they attempted to build a Shaheed Minar on their college premises. For this action, they were expelled from the college. Abdul Gaffar Choudhury wrote this song on the bedside of an injured language movement activist who was shot by the Pakistani military police. [Harv|Al Helal|2003|pp=586-89]

Later Altaf Mahmud, a renowned composer and a martyr of the Bangladesh Liberation War, recomposed the song from Abdul Latif's version. This is now the official tune for the song. Every year on 21 February, people from all parts of the Bangladesh head to the Shaheed Minar to pay homage to those killed in the language movement demonstrations by singing "Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano".

Citations

References

* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Al Helal
Given1 = B
Authorlink = Bashir Al Helal
Surname2=
Given2=
Year = 2003
Title = Bhasha Andoloner Itihas (History of the Language Movement)
Publisher= Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka
ISBN = 984-401-523-5
Language = Bn icon