AMAR EKUSHE ( THE IMMORTAL 21st)

AMAR EKUSHE ( THE IMMORTAL 21st)
The guns were fired in Dhaka city, but the first poem about February 21 was written in Chittagong. It was written by Mahbub-ul-Alam Chowdhury, chief co-ordinator of the all-party alliance for Bangla language in Chittagong. On the eve of February 21,(1952) he was afflicted with Chicken pox. He could not attend the processions in Dhaka. When he heard about the Pakistani rulers firing guns over students in procession, Mahbub-ul-Alam, in high fever and unable to write asked his friend Nani Dhar to write the poem on his behalf. That evening Khandaker Mohammad Ilias, a central leader who came from Dhaka to co-ordinate the protest in Chittagong came to visit Mahbub-ul-Alam. He decided that the poem needs to be published as soon as possible. It was printed at Kohinoor Press in Andarkilla, Chittagong. Later it was recited for the first time in the public gathering for protesting the February 21 killings in Laldighi Maidan, Chittagong. While Harunur Rashid was reciting the poem, Muslim League leader Fazlul Kader Chowdhury ordered him to stop. But it was finished at the urge of the people present.
Pakistani rulers banned the poem and issued a warant against Mahbub-ul-Alam Chowdhury. He managed to flee away wearing a women's Burka in a dramatic fashion and remained underground for about 9 months. The poem's manuscript was hidden in his house. During the 1971 war, his house was set on fire and the manuscript was therefore destroyed ...
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