Entertainment Desk: A few of the hundreds of songs by folk musician Abdul Alim, aired on Karachi Radio and Pakistan Television (PTV) in West Pakistan in the 1960s, were brought to the country a few records three years ago; The family of the Ekushey Medal winner hopes that the rest of the records will be recovered with the help of the government.
Before independence, Abdul Alim was very popular among the listeners in Bangladesh as well as in West Pakistan; He used to sing regularly on Karachi Radio and PTV.
On the 47th death anniversary of the artist on Sunday, his daughter Nurjahan Alim said that more than 100 songs of Abdul Alim were recorded on Karachi Radio and PTV before independence. After independence, the records could not be brought to Bangladesh; They remain in the archives of Karachi Radio and PTV.
Folk musician Nurjahan told bdnews24.com that three years ago, Abdul Alim was interviewed and some of his songs were recorded in Pakistan in collaboration with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s international affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi and the then High Commissioner to Pakistan Sohrab Hossain.
Nurjahan handed over the record of the interview to Alim’s family and said that the record of the song was ‘saved on Bangladesh Betar’.
Salahuddin Ahmed, additional director general (programming) of Bangladesh Betar, said he did not know the information.
According to Nurjahan, some of Abdul Alim’s songs have been recovered by the state as well as individual initiatives, but at least 70 of them remain in Pakistan.
Nurjahan Alim said, “Abdul Alim’s songs are the wealth of Bangladesh, why his songs will be in that country? Some of these songs may have been lost. We got some songs with the official initiative. I am trying to bring the rest officially. Besides, I am trying to bring it personally. ”
Alim’s family has already applied to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to recover the remaining songs, he said.
Asked about the progress of the rescue operation, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Pakistan Ruhul Alam Siddiqui told bdnews24.com, “I have been here for a year. I have no information about this. I don’t know if Mr. Abdul Alim was in the process of taking any song from here. ”
Nurjahan said it was not possible to rescue all the songs at that time due to the unfavorable political situation in Pakistan.
“No one wants to go because of the political situation. Then there was Mr. Sohrab; He did then. If Abdul Alim is not evaluated on his own, it cannot be done by anyone. ”
Researcher Shamsul Alam Babu said Bangla songs were recorded on Karachi radio and studios before the establishment of FDC and gramophone in Dhaka.
“We did not have a recording system here. Before FDC or gramophone, the songs were recorded in Karachi. Later it was copied or distributed in Dhaka. But the master copy would have remained there (Karachi). At that time, Bangla songs were played on Karachi radio. The songs were recorded there. ”
“There are still a lot of songs in many places around the world that haven’t been saved yet. Abdul Alim went to sing in Pakistan as well as Europe. They have been recorded in those areas. No one is looking for them. All songs need to be saved. ”
Abdul Alim was very popular in Pakistan in the sixties. His song ‘Next Place Land’ was used in a Pakistani serial a few years ago. In the words of lyricist Abdul Latif, the song sung by Abdul Alim has been heard by the listeners of Bangladesh as well as Pakistan for decades.
Abdul Alim was born on 26 July 1931 in the village of Talibpur in Murshidabad, India. This artist used to sing kirtan in different festivals. After that, Leto sang for Jatra Dal. Later he came to Calcutta and got the company of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Abbasuddin.
After partition, Alim settled in Dhaka. He started his career as a staff artist at Betar. He has acted in Bangladesh’s first film ‘Mukh O Mukhosh’. Since then, he has sung in many more movies. Among the folk songs sung by him, spiritual and mystical Murshid songs have taken place in the minds of the listeners.
About 500 songs sung by him have been recorded. His famous songs include ‘Sarvanasha Padma Nadi’, ‘Haludia Pakhi Sonar Baran’, ‘Ei Yeh Duniya Kiser Lagiya’, ‘Duare Aisache Palaki’, ‘Ken Wa Tare Sampe Dilam Deh Mon Pran’, ‘,’ Say Allah in the mouth ‘,’ Nabi Mor Parashamani ‘,’ Next place, next land ‘etc.
Abdul Alim died on 5 September 1984. In recognition of his contribution to music, the Bangladesh government posthumously awarded him the Ekushey Padak in 1986.
