Songs and music of 1971

In 1971, Oxfam was assisting about 600,000 Bangladeshis in over 50 refugee camps in the border areas from Tripura right round to the outskirts of Kolkata in West Bengal. Teams of young medical doctors and medical students worked on a rota basis. Hundreds of these very dedicated medical personnel came, largely, from Kolkata and Mumbai medical colleges.

The monsoon in 1971 was a bit like that of 2013. It seemed to start by the end of April and just went on an on so that many refugee camps became flooded. In July the doctors, led by their professors, came to me and said that they were sure that a lot of the medical conditions had been aggravated by the sadness and depression that was seen and felt in the camps. They said that they were sure that if each refugee community were given a harmonium and a set of tablas, the overall health situation would improve. They had experienced the joy which came along with the artistes of the 'Bangladesh Mukti Shangrami Shilpi Shangstha' who had visited many of the camps. Their strong request for these musical instruments was supported by another refugee, Samir Paul, a professor from one of the universities in Bangladesh who assisted us in many ways. Without asking for permission of Oxfam's higher authorities, I ordered a large number of harmoniums and tablas.

Samir Paul had pointed out that the Bengali language and culture were behind the demand and need for Bangladesh's independence and that the 'theatre of culture' was not less important than the 'theatre of war.' After the musical instruments had been delivered to the camps, one day, with the rain pouring down, Samir exclaimed, "Look around Julian Bhai." "We have nothing, and yet we have everything." "We have our music, our songs, our dreams and our respect." Thank you for helping us and believing in us."

Later on, in August, the doctors confirmed that the atmosphere in the camps had improved in a remarkable way. When I visited a camp near Kolkata at a place called Gobardanga, an old man who had come as a refugee from Munshiganj, said that when the music was played for the first time, he had closed his eyes and had remembered the smell of cooking from his wife's kitchen and had heard the noise made by his goats and chickens. The melodies and the songs encouraged him, he said, that he and his family will soon go home.

I learnt later on that the powerful folk songs which were sung by Bipul Bhattacharya and his colleagues persuaded some of the men and women in the refugee camps to go back across the border and join with the bands and groups of freedom fighters in Bangladesh.

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Julian Francis has had an association with Bangladesh since 1971, and was honoured in 2012 as a Foreign Friend of Bangladesh for his role in the country's War of Liberation in 1971.