Online Desk: Writer and journalist Mahbub Morshed on Tueday called upon the writers to depict significant events of the July mass uprising and incidents of suppression on people, carried out by the ousted fascist Sheikh Hasina’s government, in their literary works.
“Almost all of country’s significant historical events, including 1971 Liberation War and 1990 anti-Ershad movement, are absent in literary works. People will forget the history and significant events of student-led mass upsurge of 2024, if it is not preserved through literary works,” he said.
Mahbub, also Managing Director and Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, was addressing a memorial lecture titled “Post uprising literature: crisis and possibilities”, organized by Oitijjhya publication marking its two decades at Bangla Academy’s Kabi Shamsur Rahman conference room in the capital.
Literary works, he said, should depict the form of fascism engulfed all sphere of national life in the last 15 years.
The writer also called for using simile and metaphor in literary works while writing about the Awami fascism and July uprising to make it lucid for the readers to understand the events.
“If the stories of suppression are not written directly, even after that the people will definitely understand what had happened during the regime,” he added.
“We have deviated from our goals after the mass uprising forgetting the atrocities, killings, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings took place during the fascist regime and the significant events of the mass upsurge that forced to oust Sheikh Hasina,” said Mahbub.
“We have not been matured enough to understated the responsibilities in post-mass uprising period . . . we are still bearing the defeated mentality. We cannot understand that we are the winners,” said Mahbub.
“After erasing the visible signs of Awami League, we started thinking that Awami league has already vanished…but in reality they all are here in the country in disguise”, Mahbub said, adding, “We are sitting idle after witnessing the death of around two thousand people.”
Even the newspapers and televisions are busy with daily events after such a major political changeover forgetting atrocities of fascism. However, a handful of news stories are seen nowadays on corruption of the ousted government, said Mahbub.
Some media outlets sometimes publish some stories on corruption, he said, adding, “While corruption and irregularities of major players including Sheikh Hasina and her MP’s as well as the ministers are absent in the media”.
Recalling the fascist regime, Mahbub said, “We had to face insecurities whenever we tried to write something as we didn’t know when police will come and seize our devices”.
Conducted by Imran Nafis of Bangladesh Study Forum, the discussion was also attended by Oitijjhya publication Chief Executive Arifur Rahamn Nayeem and Dhaka University IML teacher Tanim Nawshad.
