Abbasuddin Ahmed: Voice of the delta

Today marks the 109th birth anniversary of legendary folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed (October 27, 1901-December 30, 1959). He was born at Balarampur under Tufanganj subdivision in the district of Cooch Behar, now in West Bengal. His father, Zafar Ali Ahmed, was a lawyer at the Tufanganj Subdivisional Court.
Abbasuddin’s interest in music grew through attending cultural functions at school and college. He was self-taught, except for a brief period when he trained under Ustad Jamiruddin Khan in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Ustad Kader Buksh in Murshidabad. He sang different genres of songs, such as folk, adhunik, patriotic and Islamic. But Abbasuddin became renowned mainly for his folk songs.
Initially, he earned recognition for his renditions of bhawaiya and chatka songs. He became increasingly popular with his jaari, shari, bhatiali, murshidi, bichchhedi, marsia and pala gaan, especially when these were made into gramophone records. No other singer could surpass his emotional, full-throated rendition of folk songs.
The fact that the virtuoso artiste played a key role in popularising Islamic songs in Bangla is often overlooked. “Ramzan-er Oi Rozar Sheshey Elo Khushir Eid”, a song that has become the unofficial harbinger of Eid-ul-Fitr, was originally recorded by Abbasuddin. This song, composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, brought about a cultural renaissance among Bengali Muslims.
According to Ferdousi Rahman, daughter of Abbasuddin and a renowned artiste: “In those days Abba was singing in Kolkata with HMV; he had also recorded several songs composed by Nazrul by that time. He wanted to sing Islamic songs and told Nazrul about his desire to record qawwali, which were very popular at the time. In those days conservative Muslims considered singing, and even listening to music, sacrilege. Bhagabati Babu, the rehearsal manager of Gramophone Company, was approached, but he angrily rejected the idea. At a suitable moment, Bhagabati was requested again and this time he gave his consent.”
Nazrul composed the song within half an hour and Abbasuddin picked it up the very next day. The song became an instant hit and this marked the beginning of an era of Islamic songs in Bangla.
Abbasuddin stayed in Calcutta from 1931 to 1947. In 1947, after Partition, he joined the Department of Information and Broadcasting as an additional song organiser. He participated at the South East Asia Conference in Manila in 1955 and at the International Folk Music Conference in Germany in 1956.
Abbasuddin wrote an account of his life as a singer in “Amar Shilpi Jiban-er Katha” (1960). For his invaluable contribution to music he was posthumously honoured with the Pride of Performance Award in 1960, Shilpakala Academy Award in 1979 (posthumously) and Shadhinota Dibosh Puroskar in 1981 (posthumously). Apart from Ferdousi, Abbasuddin’s son Mustafa Zaman Abbasi and his granddaughter Nashid Kamal are also renowned singers.
To mark the iconic singer’s birth anniversary, Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, High Commission of India, Dhaka has arranged a solo performance by Mustafa Zaman Abbasi on October 29 at the centre in Gulshan. Abbasi’s repertoire at the programme will feature his father’s classics.