Babul’s Canvas: Tribute to Language Movement martyrs and Birangana

Takir Hossain
Babul Mahmood is a talented young artist who has been working on the theme, freedom movement of Bangladesh and its different aspects, over the last decade. “Ekushey Smaraney” and “Birangana” — two such series by him — delve into memorable events that forged our nation.
“Ekushey Smaraney” is a series of watercolours. The works are lucid and focus on Shaheed Minar. In Babul’s works, the Shaheed Minar form appears hazy at times, but warm and soothing colours contrive impressive views. When we closely observe Babul’s watercolours, we can easily recognise his fondness for various unfamiliar and familiar forms. His colours are vibrant and bold because he always works on the theme of burning national issues. Babul always gives importance to connecting form with colour; therefore his works seem to us eloquently harmonised. Language Movement was a significant part in bringing together the nation to ensure the right to speak our mother language Bangla.
According to the artist, “Not much interest is shown in subjects like Liberation War or Language Movement now-a-days. It’s unfortunate that we’ve started neglecting our glorious past and history of this nation’s origins. Sovereignty wasn’t achieved in one day. Language Movement was one of the early steps towards that goal. Bangladesh is the only country in the world where people sacrificed their lives for the right to speak their mother language. The significance of February 21 is immense.”
Works in the “Birangana” series have been done in acrylic, one of the delicate mediums. “This subject is profoundly connected to the Liberation War. Like men, women of our country too played a vital role in the struggle for independence. Throughout the nine months of Liberation War, many Bangladeshi women were brutally tortured, abused and violated. Unfortunately in most cases, these women, later called ‘Birangana’ (literally, heroine), were ostracised and abandoned. Not enough publications document their pain, their views. Their courageous involvement had been helped to win in the Liberation War. For many of these victims, agonising silence has become fate. Their contributions were rarely honoured and post-Liberation War generations have little or no idea what it means to be a ‘Birangana.’ This series is my way of recognising their role in our freedom movement; it’s a homage to all the ‘Birangana’ in our country,” remarked Babul.
Babul Mahmood now lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

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