Meherunnesa, the woman was only 29 at the time of her incredible demonization in 1971, and had to leave with her mother and brothers early in life. She was victorious in the struggle of life, she was invincible in that battle. After the death of her father, the responsibility of the whole family fell on her.
At the age of 14, she was supposed to have a life like a butterfly. She had to face a tough life battle. She had worked hard as a copywriter in Bangla Academy, USIS Library. Above all, she is a unique patriot, a great woman inspired by nationalism. Her name is Meherunnesa.Meherunnesa is the first female martyred poet of Bangladesh. She was born on 20 August 1942 in Khidirpur, Kolkata. She spent his childhood in different parts of Kolkata. She seemed to have a strong interest in the world since childhood. So the little girl used to sit in the coal shop with her father. Meherun’s family moved to Dhaka in 1950 after fleeing the riots from West Bengal. Their family settled in Mirpur in 1975, living in different areas of old Dhaka. At that time Mirpur was inhabited by Biharis, the Bengali family was insignificant compared to the Biharis.
What many of us do not know is that the slogans ‘We have to accept our demands’ and ‘We want Bangla as the state language’ were created by Meherunnesa. These two lines appear in her poem ‘Rajbandi’ written in 1954. She lost her father to cancer. Later, to survive the war of life, she also worked as a radio repairman at the Philips Workshop. It is worth noting that at that time Philips printed mouthpieces in English and Urdu, and the Philips authorities were forced to publish Bengali-language magazines at the behest of the poet Meherunnesa.
Her love for poetry and genuine attraction to Bengali literature did not allow her to stay away from literary practice. Her works have been published in many papers and anthologies including Ittefaq, Begum, Daily Pakistan, Yuga Dabi. She wrote a political article under the pseudonym ‘Ranu Apa’ in the tumultuous mass movement against Ayub in ’69’.
On 23 March 1971, Meherunnesa took part in a poetry reading session organized by the “Lekhok Sangram Shibir” at the Bangla Academy premises with Hasan Hafizur Rahman, Ahsan Habib, Shamsur Rahman, Syed Shamsul Haque, Alauddin Al Azad, Humayun Kabir, Ahmed Sharif and others.On that occasion, she recited the poem ‘Janata Jegeche’. The poem written by her was published in ‘Begum’ magazine on the same day. “The crowd is awakeWe swear by the oath of liberation, Seven crore brave people have woken up, this victory belongs to Bangla. Mountains, seas, rivers across the desert- We are awake, in the fairness of the new consciousness. The demand to live and to be saved burns with a bright oath,We have given full water to all cowardice. We have stirred the consciousness of vested interests, Joy Bangla’s seven crore heroes, standing on the road to liberation. I swear by the bright oath of democracy.We are broken, victory is as much an obstacle to victory as Bangla.O selfish people! Just listen to get ears-Seven crore win Bangla hero! Don’t be afraid.Bayonet and Bullet StormI will give the flag of eternal victory, match the seven heavens.Let’s see, you bring the death of this claim of seven crores,I swear by eternal victory, this victory is Bangla land. ”
On the same day, March 23, poet Meherunnesa and her two brothers Rafiq and Tutul, members of the Mirpur Chhatra Sangram Parishad, hoisted the Bangladeshi flag at their home in Mirpur under the slogan ‘Joy Bangla’. In Bihari-inhabited Mirpur, she and her family had long been identified as freedom-loving Bengalis.
Finally, March 27 came, two days ago, unilateral genocide started in different districts of the country including Dhaka. The inhuman, demonic, ruthless massacre took place on the same day in the house No. 6, Block D, Road No. 6, Section 6, Mirpur.
Did God’s throne tremble at that moment?The house was raided between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., led by Mirpur butcher Quader Mollah.
As soon as he broke down the door and entered the room, the poet Meherunnesa pressed the Qur’an to her chest and said, “Why should we Muslims kill us?” If you have to kill me, kill me. There is nothing wrong with them. Let them go.” But there was no humanity between the Pakistanis and their local pimp Haiwan in 1971, not even today.
The executioners first killed Meherunnesa’s two brothers Rafiqul Islam Bablu and Shahidul Islam Tutul. According to an eyewitness (who did not take part in the murder and he was a neighbor), his two brothers were beheaded and kicked. When the poet’s mother became unconscious after seeing the death of the boys, she was cut to pieces with a sharp weapon.
The poet named her dream book, ‘Birds of the Sun’. The book was not published, before the ruthless death took away from everything.Meherunnesa, the first martyred female poet of Bangladesh, and all her family are remembered with deep pain and bleeding. We, Guerrilla 1971, pray for her and her family’s eternal peace.
Source of information:Bangladesh War of Independence Documents: Volume IIMartyr Poet Meherunnesa: Poet Kazi RosieandPermanent resident and eyewitness of Mirpur 6 section.