Late Poet Shamshur Rahman wrote this poem during the 1969 Gono Andholon (against President Ayub Khan) in which many people from all walks of life were killed by the army. We dedicate it to the memory of “Niloy Neel” (Niloy Chakraborty), Abhijit Roy, Ananta Bijoy Das, and Wahiqur Rahman, secular writers who were killed by Islamists in Bangladesh in 2015.

Where Shall We Keep this Body?

Where shall we put this body?

Where is its fitting grave?

Say the earth, or the mountain,

Or the deep-blue water of the sea–

All are tattered, only trifles.

That’s why we don’t put  this body in earth,  mountain or sea

But have kept it in our hearts.

–Shamshur Rahman (Trans. Chinmoy Banerjee)

From: “Gonojagoron Moncho”

এ লাশ আমরা রাখবো কোথায় ?

এ লাশ আমরা রাখবো কোথায় ?

তেমন যোগ্য সমাধি কই ?

মৃত্তিকা বলো, পর্বত বলো

অথবা সুনীল-সাগর-জল-

সব কিছু ছেঁদো, তুচ্ছ শুধুই !

তাইতো রাখি না এ লাশ

আজ মাটিতে পাহাড়ে কিম্বা সাগরে,

হৃদয়ে হৃদয়ে দিয়েছি ঠাঁই।

– কবি শামসুর রাহমান

 

 

 

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