I have already read various discussions about the book 'Thar: The Language of the Gipsy People'. This book became an exceptional book of our time in terms of research, content, presentation, cover and outlook.    I would like to start with a quote from Professor Maggie Tallerman [author of Language Origins : Perspective and Evolution] of Newcastle University. She said, "Humans are the only species which has developed complex spoken and written language, because of the communicative languages we are different from other animals." There are thousands of languages in the world. Chinese Mandarin is spoken by 1 billion people. On the other hand, the number of language users of the Gipsy community is only about forty thousand. Author Habibur Rahman has worked on such a language which has no script. Again, the language does not belong to the Indo-European group, the world's largest language family.   This huge book of 368 pages has a total 22 chapters. The chapters are progressed according to the research methodology. At the very beginning, the author's fascination about the reputed linguist Chomsky emerges with certain clarity.  As the language of the Gipsy community is different, so is the language of the 'Rishi' or 'Mochi' community. However, the language of this scheduled class has nothing in common with the language of the Gipsy community. As the language has no script, some scholars have attempted to identify it as a sign language or 'uncivilized language'. However, linguist Sukumar Sen says, 'Specific words (adopted from one or more languages) are used in a special sense to convey confidential information or to make others unable to be comprehended but necessary dialogues naturalized in public for dishonest purposes. Such use of language is called uncivilized labguage or Apartha-Bhasha.'     Another study unfolds the fact that the 'Bede' community was identified as suspicious during the British rule. Even today they are leaving behind the example of being involved in any criminal activities for the sake of livelihood.    Author Habibur Rahman says in the introduction of the book, that 'Traditionally, the life of the 'Bedes' are centered on boats. In the last few decades, due to rapid improvement of the overall communication system in the country and the reduction of the navigability of rivers and canals, their lifestyle has also been changing. The so-called talisman mantras and herbal medicine profession of the ancestors of the community is declining alarmingly with the development of modern medical methods and the wide spread of technology. As a result, most of these people are involved in various criminal activities and deteriorating the law and order situation in various areas. In order to earn a living, they have been joining into the drug trade.  The leave for Teknaf with the boxes of the snakes, and comes back with the bundles of Yaba drugs.'   When the author was serving as the Superintendent of Police in Dhaka district, he first noticed the issue and decided to change their criminal mindset gradually.   Many writers in Bengali literature have tried to portray this vulnerable community. Pallikobi Jasimuddin wrote the play 'Beder Meye'. Poet Nazrul wrote some noteworthy songs on this tribe. Tarashankar Banerjee wrote short story 'Bedeni'. Tozammel Haque Bakul made a feature film 'Beder Meye Josna'. It is known as the most successful movie of all time in Bangladesh. Malkosh is one of the ragas in North Indian music genre. Some music researchers believe that this raga originated from the tunes of the Gipsy community.  We believe that the information included in the book of writer-researcher Habibur Rahman will play an extraordinary role in the study of this small ethnic group in the future. Not much work has been done in Bengali language on minority languages. Some work has been done on the Garos and Chakmas in the past. After reading the book, it seems that the author has given ideas and links to the future generations of scholars. The book has already received national and international recognitions. Like APJ Abdul Kalam Medal and International Mother Language Award-2023. The later award was presented by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.  Habibur Rahman's book is a proof that one can be engaged in basic research while performing government duties. Author Habibur Rahman is currently Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). He is associated with various creative and innovative works too. Thanks to Panjeri Publications for publishing such a unique book. The cover of the book has been designed by Rajeev Raju. He has dedicated the book to his physician wife Dr. Wazed Shamsunnahar Disha and son Aftan Afif Abdullah.     At the end I will be happy to quote from poet Kamal Choudhury about the book : 'Habibur Rahman wrote the book following the participation observation method of research. When a researcher start researching on a specific subject, he has to come out from the shell and dares to enter inside. Habibur Rahman is successful showing his courage through unplugging the facts and documents.' The writer of this article is a lawyer of Supreme Court. Former Banker and the first initiator of filing case against the killers of Bangabondhu

Renowned media personality and popular host Syed Ashik Rahman’s novel Prem Puran’ (love myth in English) has been published at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2024. The inauguration and novel’s cover unveiling ceremony was held on Monday, 12 February, 2024 at the premises of Bangla Academy. Honourable deputy speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Shamsul Haque Tuku was present in the occasion as a chief guest. The novel `Prem Puran’, ahead of Valentine’s Day when lovers are going to express their affection with greetings and gifts, has been published by the Bengal Multimedia Ltd. The novel is now available from its opening day at Behula Bangla-stall, stall number 224-225 at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. It is worth mentionable that the novel “Prem Puran ”provides an exceptional love-story and the novelist Syed Ashik Rahman has sketched an implausible pen-picture about a melancholy love-story of a girl whose marriage broke-up when future bridegroom’s family learnt she came of a Vede Sampraday (community).  In our modern age, love-story in the novel is reflected in the middle or upper class family or in the elite class community. Generally most of the cases, the readers have no alternative but read out the love-story of those classes. But many don’t know that the lower-class family or fallen community like Vede Sampraday has also love-story. That’s the reason, the writer has picked up that love-story in his first novel so that the modern generation can make out that reality. Among the other guests, the Chief Executive Officer of Bangabandhu Satellite Dr. Shahjahan Mahmud, Iyub Muhammad Khan, officer of Research Sub-division, Bangla Academy, renowned lyricist and journalist Kabir Bakul, Sudev Chandra Ghosh,  head of sales and arketing (GM) of Bengal Media Corporation Limited, Dewan Shamsur Rakib, head of program at Rtv were present on the cover unveiling ceremony. It is mentionable that Syed Ashik Rahman is also the host and moderator of satellite TV channel RTV's popular talk show Unnayane Bangladesh (Bangladesh in development), Star of Politics, Diplomatic Zone, Business Talk and Kemon Chai Bangladesh (What type of Bangladesh do we want?) and so on. He also has made significant contributions to film production since 2018. In 2023, he produced Leader: Amie Bangladesh under the banner of Bengal Multimedia. It was directed by Tapu Khan. The film starred by Shakib Khan- Bubley was super duper hit commercially.  

Recently, Anisuzzaman Anis, the country's famous printmaker and professor of Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University, has completed a prestigious three-week residency workshop in Guanlan Print Base, China.  Guanlan Original Printmaking Base is located in the hometown of famous printmaker Chen Yanqiao, the pioneer of Chinese New Woodcut Movement; as well as a renowned art theorist and educator. It is jointly established by the Shenzhen Bao’an District People’s Government, Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Artists Association. They decided to build a national original printmaking base with creation, production, exhibition, collection, communication, research, training and market development as one union of China’s Prints Industries. Printmaking Village, the core area of the printmaking base, was officially opened in May 2008. He was awarded at the International Guanlan Print Biennale earlier in 2011.  The artist previously won the Grand Prize at the Asian Biennale too. He is an outstanding contemporary printmaker who has received scholarships from the famous Pollock-Kersner Foundation of America and the Greenshield Foundation of Canada.  Artist Anisuzzaman Anis has been acclaimed worldwide for his recent series 'Kaleidoscopic Complexity'. He has been working on civic prosperity and multi-storied development complexities for more than a decade. He took the woodblock print medium to unique heights. He is a popular artist in this medium after art gurus Shafiuddin Ahmed, Rafiqun Nabi and Abdus Satter. He is one of the two Bangladeshi artists who received the grand prize through woodblock print medium at the prestigious Asian Biennale. The other name is Abdus Sattar.   This content has been prepared after a long conversation with the artist about his latest series Kaleidoscopic Complexity and the Guanlan residency. Anisuzzaman says about his new series of printmaking, 'This is my series of works which I started in 2009 and still on. It came in my mind while watching the fast urbanization of our capital city Dhaka. Through this series I tried to explain the necessity of urbanization and the negative side of the cityscape. As you know Bangladesh is too fast developing country, but somehow we are facing a number of hidden complexities which I love to to describe as 'Kaleidoscopic Complexity.'  The Department of printmaking was established in 1948 as a Graphic Art Department. This name has been changed to 'Printmaking Department' in 1978. In 2008 when Charukala became a Faculty of the Dhaka University, it became established as a well-known Department under Fine Art faculty of Dhaka University. This is one of the best departments of the university. Many renowned teachers and scholars worked in this department. I am proud to be a student and faculty of this department. About printmaking technique and tactis he says., 'We have all the techniques and procedures of printmaking in our department. Relief Process, Intaglio Process (Etching, Drypoint, etc), Planographic Process (Lithograph, Platography, etc), Offset Monotype and Monoprint. what I teach to my students specially is lithograph and wood block print process.'  Artist Anis informed us about printmaking tradition of China and Japan, 'China has a long history of printmaking. Also Japan has an enriched history too. As I studied in Japan I had to go through the historic journey of China and Japan's printmaking there.' Besides Anis mentioned his fascination on famous Chinese master printmakers Jhang Jhiaoshun, Jhang Minjhi, Hao Ping and others. He specially thanked Jao Jianchun the deputy director of the Guanlan Print Base for his gracious support.   While asked how to develop printmaking process in the coming years he says, 'Well, we need much devotion. We need to guide and train our students with care. We should keep our eyes open to catch and implement global printmaking movements. It is a continuous process. young and promising printmakers should participate in the international exhibitions, they must visit museums and galleries and need to collect catalogues and journals.'  Article courtesy, Rafique Sulayman : Art critic and writer.

Artist Jahan Afroz Ruba is always immersed in the creation of a diverse collection of art. She excelled in painting, pottery and quilting with a career of three decades.    She is definitely an unavoidable name for those who follow sheer beauty in painting. Besides creative paintings she has been engaged in discovering varied forms of arts : those include pottery, quilting, jewelries etc.   Her quilts tell the story of life and sense of beauty as usual. She is a specialized artist in quilt medium. Her technique of creating quilts are quite different as we are familiar with of it in rural Bengal. These works were often refered to the category of craft, seldom transcending to the level of fine art. However, quilting (and other forms of fiber art) are increasingly accepted in fine art circles.  As we know quilting is a method of stitching layers of material together. Although there are some variations, a quilt usually means a bed cover made of two layers of fabric with a layer of padding in between, held together by lines of stitching. She is a prolific ceramist too. Ceramic art is an art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture works. As one of the popular arts, ceramic art is also a visual art. Her artistic pottery will surely grab your attention.  She is going to showcase her art-world to the art loving people of Dhaka on March 1 at the gallery of Shilpakala Academy. The exposition will be open till March 7, everyday.   

The book arrived in my notice quite lately. Published by the Bangladesh Supreme Court Lawyers Association a a part of commemoration of 'Mujibbarsha', there is no doubt that 'A Superhero of the History' was published in continuation of the clamor of publication about Bangabandhu across the country. The compiled writings are heartwarming indeed. It became a unique book in the crowd of thousands of useless writings occupying the publication industry.   The current learned attorney general A. M. Amin Uddin is in the editorial board of the compilation. Other associates are Md. Moniruzzaman, Imtiaz Farooq, Bakir Uddin Bhuiyan, Md. Humayun Kabir and Mohammad Moshiur Rahman. All of them are the then leaders of the Supreme Court Bar Association and renowned lawyers as well.  But we all have a regret. That is, the amount of work being done on Bangabandhu is unorganized and inadequate compared to what is needed. The universities also did not come forward with much interest in such research oriented works. Although 'Bangabandhu Chair' has been established in various universities, the hostels have been named. Even many buildings in the country have been named after Bangabandhu. Once an essayist lamented, 'Bangabandhu is limited only to bridges, hostels, roads, buildings, universities, museums. But beyond these, he is the whole of Bangladesh. He is mixed in every dust of every inch of this country.' This is the real Bangabandhu, his true identity.  It cannot be denied that Bangabandhu's life and work have not been compiled even today. As there was no analysis or research on Bangabandhu's overall life and activities, his philosophy, doctrine, governance. Although there was much criticism on the political part of the program of his second revolution, there was not the least discussion or criticism on its economic, social program. His vision remained unchallenged. None of his colleagues, followers - came forward to shed light on the matter. Rather, he remained silent for fear of being criticized by the detractors. No significant research has been done on the program of the Second Revolution.  On the other hand, many books on Bangabandhu's life and work are available in the market. Most of the authors are anonymous. Many books are not even worth touching. Unfortunately, real  Bangabandhu is absent in those writings. No evaluation, no analysis. After reading many books, it seems that those should be discarded. Those who were companions of Bangabandhu did not come forward to write memoirs. The politicians created by him have also shown miserliness in this regard. If they had written, then a lot of information about Bangabandhu and contemporary history would have been available. And because it did not go away, unnecessary lies about Bangabandhu have increased. He has been the victim of propaganda the most. But end of the day he has come out as an enlightened person, the best son of the Bengali nation.  Everyone should read the memorial book 'Itihaser Mahanayak' to know the enlightened and greatest Bengali father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In this book Bangabandhu's daughter Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bangabandhu's other daughter Sheikh Rehana wrote two memoirs. The country's best jurists, well-known judges and a number of famous intellectuals of the country have contributed in this anthology; through which the life and works of the Father of the Nation have been truly glorified. The writings will be very useful for those who will do classical research about him in the future. Others who wrote in this memorial book: Justice Iman Ali, Justice Md. Nuruzzaman, Justice Obaidul Hasan, Md Nurul Islam Sujan MP, Sh Rezaul Karim MP, Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapas, Md Mahbub Ali MP, Justice M Inayetur Rahim, former Law Minister Abdul Matin Khasru, Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Abdul Baset Majumder, Syed Rezaur Rahman, Dr. Harun-ur-Rashid, Prof. Dr. Mizanur Rahman, AAMS Arefin Siddique, Prof. Dr. Mizanur Rahman, Harun Habib, Kashem Humayun, Mohammad Manjurul Islam, Md. Moniruzzaman, Imtiaz Farooq, Md. Bakir Uddin Bhuiyan, Md. Humayun Kabir and Md. Moshiur Rahman. Apart from this, several chapters dealing closely with Bangabandhu's life and politics have been inserted, which will be very essential for the readers. For example, a chapter has been inserted on what prominent citizens of the international arena have commented on Bangabandhu. The books written by Bangabandhu are also included. There is also a chapter on Bangabandhu's speech in Bengali to the United Nations General Assembly. 130 pages beyond the main article are filled with such rare discussions. That is why the book is different from other publications. Another notable aspect is the important inclusion of photographs from various periods along with a brief biography of the Father of the Nation.  The Supreme Court Bar Association has performed a national duty by publishing this memorandum. In the crowd of thousands of cheap books, a thoughtful book is the hope of the age. This is one such publication. But there are some limitations about the book. It is not a very accessible book. Although the publication was administered Pathak Samabesh, any interested reader will not find the book in market. Only Supreme Court lawyers can collect the book. I hope that the respected editorial board will try to overcome these limitations of the book in the next edition and make it more universal and accessible.   Anisuzzaman Sohel, a prominent painter of the country, designed the cover of the 'A Superhero of the History' memorial book. He deserves special thanks.   Author: Supreme Court lawyer, former banker and filed first complaint against Bangabandhu's killers

A New Year For Us a satirical  verse form,  which  expresses One's sole understanding about our pretentious social culture and this also focuses on the society’s pride or social face and not the real soul. And the rush that our generation feels to cope with time. It is  tried to find the solution for this situation, which we feel inside.   A New Year for Us                   -Afia Fahmida It’s probably the new year, not for a soul trapped in an old shell. It’s a new year, but not for the child trapped in the box. It’s probably a new year, not for the tired soul. The soul, which has to endure many adventures, And everyone of them changes it. It's probably a new year for the rest of the world, but not the best time for the trapped soul; he'll needs some time to get through the storm. It will be a new year’s dawn for all, like this one. May be the year will start for him in the autumn in the city of Sakura. Maybe it will start with the first snow. Maybe on a summer morning with Skylark’s song. Or maybe, with the Lost of some major part in it, waking up from the tired nap, which is not longer than seventeen minutes.   In the new year, the lost, trapped soul will start its new dawn. And that is perfectly okay. It will be perfectly okay, even if it’s not okay with others. We will start like Murakami’s Kafka, with new features gifted by the storms.

When it was the time of Covid_19, everything was bolcked and people were in quarantine, isolated, and lonely.Every individual became isolated within four walls,just like a cave.In that time vaccine became the hope, the Sunlight.Sunlight entered in every room and from that very moment, It was realized the hope of Sunlight and written this poem.   Ode to Sunlight                       -Ahalul Jannat   Oh my light, how bright!  May I take you in my heart? You guy, how fresh! May I drink you? I know you came to rescue me From the dark curse, In My little cave,  out of light, full with you. You came to me to spread love.  I know— You are righteous, Your heart is so kind, can not leave anyone but giving the light. Come, come to my hut, Fill my little cave with joy. Wont you give me your flame? So I can burn my all diffidence. Please, come to me I wanna take bath in you!