From 1971’s unforgettable “We fight to save a flower, we take up arms to save a smile” to today's hope-inducing “A hundred hopes.... dreams on the path of freedom” — music has always united young hearts yearning for freedom.
As March 7 (the day marking Bangabandhu’s historic speech for emancipation) arrives and the nation looks back at the tumultuous atmosphere of 1971, music loving youths are counting hours to be part of the country’s biggest concert blending wartime melodies with modern rock songs. Bearing the wartime freedom-inspiring slogan “Joy Bangla” in its title, the concert would soon get youngsters singing along with their favorite bands lining up for some electrifying hours.
This year, the Joy Bangla Concert – aiming to instill the spirit of the Liberation War in young minds – will fire up young hearts on the Army Stadium ground with songs performed by Artcell, Avoid Rafa, Lalon, Chirkutt, Cryptic Fate, Karnival, Meghdol, Nemesis and Arekta Rock Band. The Centre for Research & Information (CRI) and its youth secretariat Young Bangla have been organizing the concert since 2015. The last edition in 2020 mesmerized youths as Bangabandhu appeared in a holographic visual before them.
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“We were not part of the millions waiting under the scorching sun for the iconic leader on March 7, 1971, to deliver a speech that would transform a nation’s future forever and bring about a change on the global political landscape. We couldn’t be in person applauding and cheering in unison as the call to fight for freedom was made. We regret not being born in that period when the nation resisted one of the worst genocides forced upon it. But we can surely dream of being a part of the concert where a holographic version of Bangabandhu’s speech makes us imagine the time. Wartime songs that were once transmitted through a secret radio station called Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, give us goosebumps like they did in 1971. That is why I am so excited about the Joy Bangla Concert,” said Sadia, a student of Dhaka University.
In a country, marked with the confluence of the trend of globalization and being tuned to its unique, glorious past, the Joy Bangla Concert merges both by blending wartime melodies with popular, contemporary rock songs. However, the event faced a gap for two years due to the pandemic raging through the world.
“As a youth always hearing stories of the Liberation War, recounted by my grandfather who was part of the armed struggle against the genocide unleashed by the Pakistan army, I love to see tributes to the historic March 7 speech of the Father of the Nation in such a creative way. Did Bangabandhu himself know that someday his words would be honoured by the entire planet? Our independence came with the blood shed by three million martyrs. We can’t pay off that debt, but we can remember and pay tributes like we are doing through this concert,” said engineer Shahedul Islam.
Read more: Young music lovers rejoice as Joy Bangla Concert is back after a two-year gap
Auritro Ariyan, a O-level graduate, said, “I take particular interest in how Bangalees adopted the western rock genre and fused it so well with our culture. The cross-cultural endeavor is taking our music to a new height, and we are well-aligned with that process. In the previous years, my parents did not allow me to attend the concert for being too young. But this time, I won’t miss it!”
In recent years, the country has witnessed a bout of initiatives by CRI to bring history closer to youths, including Joy Bangla Concert, Mujib Graphic Novel (a graphic novel sketching the life of young Mujib), and Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale (a movie on the struggles of Bangabandhu’s daughters following his assassination).