Zahir Raihan

Zahir Raihan, one of the most talented film makers, was born on 19^th August 1935 in Feni district of Bangladesh. He was an active worker of the Language Movement, took part in the mass movement [গণ আন্দোলন] in 1969, and joined the Liberation War in 1971. All through his life, Zahir dreamt for a democratic [গণতান্ত্রিক] society that will ensure [নিশ্চিত করুন] freedom of speech and will. He had many dreams about our film industry too. He made a legendary [অদ্ভুত] film Jibon Theke Neya based [ভিত্তি] on the Language Movement of 1952. It was a revolt [বিদ্রোহ] against [বিরুদ্ধে] the then autocratic [স্বৈর] government. During the liberation war this film was shown outside Bangladesh and earned appreciation [কদর]. Zahir gave all his money to the Freedom Fighters’ trust that he got from his film shows. Besides, his great documentary on Pakistani atrocities [নৃশংসতা], Stop Genocide [গণহত্যা], helped create world sentiment [আবেগ] in favour of our liberation war. His brother Shahidulla was captured and killed by the Pakistani army and the local collaborators [সহযোগী] during the last days of the war. On 30^th December 1971, someone informed Zahir about an address somewhere at Mirpur, where he might find his brother. Accordingly, Zahir left home to get his brother back and he never returned. Zahir’s dream was fulfilled. He could see the inception [শুরু] of a free independent Bangladesh though he did not get back his brother. And it’s a pity [দু:খজনক] that this dreamer was missing at such a time when his dream came true.