Radwan Mujib Siddiq, grandson of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and trustee of Centre for Research & Information (CRI), has urged all to wear masks to remain safe from Covid-19 virus.
"There’s light at the end of the tunnel but we can't put our guard down yet, so please wear a mask and keep your loved ones safe," he said, thanking all for the warm birthday wishes to him.
Radwan, the eldest among three children of Bangabandhu’s younger daughter Sheikh Rehana and academician Shafiq Ahmed Siddique, Radwan was born on May 21, 1980, turned 41.
Also read: Bangabandhu’s grandson Radwan Mujib turns 41
His sister, Tulip Siddiq, is a British MP representing London’s Hampstead and Kilburn.
Their father Shafiq had worked in several universities in Bangladesh and abroad.
Followers keep greeting him soon after zero hour as CRI and Young Bangla shared two messages on their verified Facebook pages greeting Radwan.
"Thank you for the warm birthday wishes everyone! The children have come up with an excellent plan to replace all meals with cake while we have a quiet one at home," he wrote in a post shared on Facebook.
A year ago, Radwan said, he was sure that things would be back to normal by now (the trouble with being an optimist..) but there's a long way to go before everyone is protected from the virus.
Radwan is credited with initiating creative and analytic projects – from architecting Mujib graphic novel to co-producing the docufiction Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale to bringing forth Joy Bangla Concert to editing the country’s policy-based magazine WhiteBoard.
Also read: Go boldly into future, but don’t forget past: Radwan Mujib
The trend he set in motion of presenting history in the form of stories, films, and concerts revived the interest of the young generation in the country’s history.
Mujib Graphic Novel, based on the unfinished memoir of Bangabandhu, is the first of its kind in the country, presenting history to the kids as comics.
He often appears in interactive sessions with youths.
A politics and history graduate from London School of Economics, he is the editor-in-chief of WhiteBoard, a quarterly covering the gamut of policy issues, the first installment of which presented the policies adopted by Bangabandhu in the post-independence Bangladesh, a chapter less-explored and broadly misinterpreted.
In the year 2013, he envisioned a docudrama on her aunt, the current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, narrating her ordeals beginning with the assassination of her father, also the father of the nation, and nearly the entire family.
Working closely with director Piplu Khan for five years, scouring through all the traces at home and abroad that might shed some light on the history they were to recreate through a visual, he saw the project coming to life in 2018, garnering local and global acclaim.
“While most historical docudramas in our country are ‘officious’ in tone, Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale stands out in its narrative. The film focuses on storytelling, bringing in engaging stories that would otherwise remain unheard of. The director’s camera even made its way to her kitchen and library too,” he said on an occasion.
“It took five years of effort to get the visual narrative on screen. Down the memory lane, down the trail left by the Father of the Nation, and anywhere a story was waiting to be heard, the crew has pulled out all the stops to bring it on screen, and it is safe to say that the effort was fruitful,” he added.
The setting of the film’s beginning was in Belgium when a land phone rang ominously and transmitted the news that her father and the entire family, except her and her sister, were gunned down in their residence of Bangladesh on August 15, 1975.