Chintito

Songs of Our Independence

Chintito

We have a right to Aw, Aa, Ka, Kha as much as anyone has to their A, B, C
Rashtra bhasha Bangla chai. Our state language, Bangla it must be
But they wanted to muffle our voice, snatch away our mother tongue
Joy Bangla, Bengal's joy will happen, happen it will for sure.

They are state enemies who made us suffer; they suffered from the Pakistan mania
And so our address was identified in tomar amar thikana, Padma-Meghna-Jamuna
At our cost the deserts of West Pakistan were made fertile
Our bashundhara was filled with wealth and paddy, yet we remained hungry

We went for elections. We relied on democracy to resolve the East & West Pakistan fight
That is why Zahir Raihan said,' Let there be light', to remove the common man's plight
Products produced in East Pakistan was cheaper in West Pakistan, dearer here
The dam at Tarbela was built over the bodies of the dead of the East Bengal floods

The angels saw the martyrs fall, and we marched on Chal Chal Chal
They unleashed their brutal army on 'their' unarmed countrymen and all
As Muslims they killed Muslims, as animals they killed human beings
We have written the name of Bangladesh with blood, we have. Ratkta diye naam likechi...

There are fools who imagine that our independence fell one fine morning from the sky
Lo! Swadhinata came after years and miles of your bhai, my bhai, Mujib Bhai Mujib Bhai
Leader you go ahead, we are with you. Leader you have nothing to fear, we are with you
Octogenarian Moulana Bhasani came up with his one-point demand independence

How naive to conjure up that a mother would let her son take up arms on hearing the radio
The announcements were important in the context of a struggle, 24 years long
We have gone to war to save but a single flower. Mora ekti phoolke bachabo boley juddho kori
Every country has not a flash, but a proud history, and so do we: 1952, 1954, 1969, 1971...

From the dark night of 25th March, Pakistanis hunted for dead Bangalee with 'operation searchlight'
Our martyrs were brutally gunned down, children bayoneted, women raped, houses set alight
The coast was afar, the waves were high, but the roadmap to triumph was charted on 7 March
Teer hara ayee dheu-er sagar paree debo-re. We shall ride the sea of waves, we sang, and we did.

We had been united behind one leader, and that was Bangabandhu, our land's sreshto son
East Pakistan was under his decree, peaceful non-cooperation was his violent weapon
We were virtually swadhin since he pronounced 'this struggle is for freedom, for independence'
Bengal's Bouddho, Hindu, Christian, Muslim we are all Bangalee

Independent we were from the 26th, we had to liberate this holy land from the devil's clutch
Oh! If you saw then the demonic Al-Badr, Al-shaams, the razakar's poach-paach
But then our valiant freedom fighters showered their love for the blessed mother
On the eastern horizon, the suryo had risen, the blood is red, red, red

A thousand salaam, a thousand, in saluting the immortal martyrs
They were young, many were past their youth, some had a few years
Nothing stopped them till ultimate glory on December sixteenth
We shall not forget them, ever. Aamra tomader bhulbo na...

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