Report

His 101

Bangladesh History

Submitted To:
Dr. A. K.M. Golam Rabbani

Submitted by:
Jannat Ul Kawnine
Swadhin Bangla Betar ID: 1521896630
Serial No: 12
Section: 9
Kendra

Date of Submission:
Page | 1
 Acknowledgement
The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from many
people and I am extremely privileged to have got this all along the completion of my project. All
that I have done is only due to such supervision and assistance and I would not forget to thank
them.

I respect and thank my honorable faculty Dr. A. K.M. Golam Rabbani sir for providing me an
opportunity to do the project work in and giving me all support and guidance which made me
complete the project duly. I am extremely thankful to his for providing such a nice support and
guidance, although he had busy schedule managing the corporate affairs. I owe my deep gratitude
to him because he took keen interest on my project work and guided me all along, till the
completion of my project work by providing all the necessary information for developing a good
system.

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 Letter of Transmittal

Date:
Dr. A. K.M. Golam Rabbani
Lecturer
Department of History & Philosophy
North South University
Subject: Submission of Report on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra.

Dear Sir,
I am submitting you HIS-101 “Bangladesh History” project on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. In
preparing this report, I have tried my level best to include the entire topic you taught us in class.

If you have any questions and/or comments regarding the interpretation of this report, please ask
me. Thank you for your immense support through the course, and it will help me further in my
whole life. Lastly, thank you for considering my report. I look forward to hearing from you.

Your most Obedient pupils,

Jannat Ul Kawnine

1521896630

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 Executive Summary
Ethnic and linguistic discrimination and economic neglect by the politically-dominant West
Pakistan led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. On March 7, 1971, Bangobandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman gave a speech at the Racecourse Ground and urged “his people” to turn every
house into a fort of resistance. On 25 March 1971, the Operation Searchlight was crackdown by
the brutal Pakistani invaders including a virtual massacre of the intelligentsia of Bangladesh.
Bangabondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his declaration of independence called upon the people
to resist the occupation forces through a message in the first hour on 26 March 1971. On 26
March 1971, Bangladesh Betar was raised as “SWADHIN BANGLA BIPLOBI BETAR
KENDRA” with the voice of impedance. With that broadcast the entire nation got back its
confidence, courage of conviction and strong optimism. The broadcast was done from a 10 KW
Transmitter in Kalurghat Radio Station, Chittagong. During the whole period of Liberation War,
Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra successfully carried out its intellectual war like an organized
second front of the war of liberation and aired its patriotic songs which greatly inspired the
freedom fighters and freedom seeking people.

Since then, Bangladesh Betar, the national radio network has been discharging the honorous
responsibility of disseminating information, education, entertainment with utmost commitment,
honesty and objectivity. It functions to support nation building efforts of the government
upholding social values and the country’s rich historical and cultural heritage. Betar has been
playing a pivotal role towards developing a knowledge based information society taking
advantage of its unique and distinctive capacity as the cheapest and most versatile medium to
reach to the grass root level. At present, Betar with the help of 15 medium wave, 2 short wave and
32 FM transmitters has the strongest logistic network reaching across the breadth and length of the
national boundary and beyond. Apart from the central News Desk, spewing out hourly bulletins
incorporating latest national and international events, Betar as a true public service broadcasting
medium has been propagating programmes and news from its 71 studios round the clock
reflecting national requirements through 12 stations and 6 units namely External Service,
Transcription Service, Commercial Service, Population -Health & Nutrition Cell, Traffic Channel
and Farm Broadcasting.
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Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Background 7
Scope 8
Objective 8
Historiography 9
Key topic 11
Features of Swadhin Bangla Betar 11
Declaration of Independence 11
Performers 14
Review 17
LEGACY AND CONCLUSION 18
Reference 19
Appendix 20

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Introduction
Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra ('Free Bengal Radio Centre') was the radio broadcasting centre of
Bengali nationalist forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. This station played a
vital role in liberation struggle, broadcasting the Declaration of Independence and increasing
mental state of Bangladeshis during the war. In 1971, radio was the only media reaching to the
far ends of Bangladesh. It ran a propaganda campaign through the war. Mr Sufi barkat-e-khoda
was one of the artist in this show.

The radio station Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra kept the spirit of the nation alive during the nine
months of the Liberation War of 1971. We don’t talk or share much about Shadhin Bangla Betar
Kendra but on the time of Liberation War they kept on going with the real news and giving hope
in the mind of the people of Bangladesh. It connected the government-in-exile with the
people in need, acting like an unseen thread that held the whole nation together. Besides
relaying messages of the government and updating the people about the situation on the
battleground, the activists of Swadhin Bangla Betar broadcast motivational songs and
satirical programmes.

Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra radio broadcasting centre established by the Bangladesh
government in exile soon after the declaration of the war of liberation. The Swadhin
Bangla Betar Kendra, in fact, evolved from the Kalurghat (chittagong) transmission
centre from where the declaration of independence was made by ziaur rahman on behalf
of bangabandhu sheikh mujibur rahman. Soon after the Pakistan army took over Dacca Betar
Kendro in the early hours of March 26, 1971. The Pakistanis renamed the radio station "Radio
Pakistan Dacca" and used it to announce martial law orders. The Pakistan army's attempt at
silencing the voice of the Bengalis had begun. Bengalis, however, fought back. The war of
Bangladesh's Liberation had begun.

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Background
The end of British rule in India in August 1947, accompanied by the Partition of India, gave birth
to a new country named Pakistan which constituted Muslim-majority areas in the far east and far
west of the Indian subcontinent. The Western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also
officially) termed West Pakistan and the Eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was initially
termed East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. The two zones were separated by over thousand
miles of Indian territory in the middle, and had vastly different culture. It was widely perceived
that the west zone dominated the country, leading to the effective marginalization of the east zone.
Growing disenchantment among the people of East Pakistan finally led to civil disobedience
followed by Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

During the period of Liberation War of Bangladesh, media supported mass sentiments. They aired
patriotic songs and talk shows. In the process of achieving our independence by trouncing the
atrocities of the Pakistani military forces, the war-time broadcasting station "Shadheen Bangla
Betar Kendra" played a vital role- in increasing the mental state of the whole Bangali nation by
informing us how well we are advancing towards the victory. Shadheen Bangla Betar Kendra
reached its pinnacle during the liberation war being acclaimed as the stool pigeon of war news
updates through 'Chorom Potro'. In those days when radio was the only media reaching to the far
ends of Bangladesh, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra eventually turned as the orator of the
Bangladesh government in exile. It ran the nationalist campaign throughout the war in gearing up
our freedom fighters moral and also mobilizing world opinion in favor of Bangladesh.

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Scope
The scope of history has been undergoing constant change. In the past, the world was divided into a
number of social, political and cultural units. Each unit considering itself superior to other e.g.,
Japan, China, India in Asia, Romans, Greeks, English, in Europe and Americans and possessing
independent histories.

Certain societies like Japan, China, India, etc. considered themselves as more civilized and did not
study about other states that they considered as barbarians. But this report will give many people
and next generation about the fighter who fight behind the scene with their voice.

Objective
In general, research objectives describe what we expect to achieve by a project. Research
objectives are usually expressed in lay terms and are directed as much to the client as to the
researcher. Research objectives may be linked with a hypothesis or used as a statement of purpose
in a study that does not have a hypothesis. Even if the nature of the research has not been clear to
the layperson from the hypotheses, s/he should be able to understand the research from the
objectives. My goal was to give the message to the people, that they should know the vital role of
Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. Those artistes divided up in troupes and travelled to many
refugee camps in India and performed there. They worked to raise funds and to build popular
support for the war. Funds collected from their performances were donated to the government-in-
exile. We’ve already lost many programmes. The rest should be archived in public-private efforts.
Recognising them as freedom fighters is undoubtedly a matter of happiness. But, it’s too late.
Many of fellow artistes are no longer with us. I am proud that I sharing a part of the glorious
liberation war. I hope in future Bangladesh will follow the spirit and ideals of the liberation war.

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Historiography
On 26 March 1971, the day after the Operation Searchlight crackdown, when the heartless mass
massacre by the Pakistani snoopers dove the country into misery and hopelessness, at that basic
point of history a voice was heard over Radio saying "SWADHIN BANGLA BIPLOBI
BETAR KENDRA THEKE AMI MAJOR ZIA BALCHHI". With that communicate the
whole country got back its certainty, boldness of conviction and solid hopefulness. It was all
conceivable due to the gallant activity taken by three youthful people Dr. Syed Anwar Ali,
Engineer Ashikul Islam and Engineer Dilip Chandra Das to begin with 10 KW transmitter.

From that point forward, during the entire time of Liberation War, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra
effectively completed its scholarly war like a composed front and disclosed devoted tunes which
significantly motivated the political dissidents in their persistent battle against the Pakistan-drove
occupation powers, war news and television shows to help up individuals' spirits. Toward the
evening of 26 March 1971 a wire containing the message of Sheik Mujibur Rahman came to one
Syed Anwar Ali through certain understudies in Chittagong.
The message was meant that Bengali by Dr. Syed Anwar Ali's wife Dr. Manjula Anwar. She
alongside Syed Anwar Ali, Kazi Hosne Ara and two WAPDA engineers Mr. Ashikul Islam and
Mr. Dilip Chandra Das so as to communicate that message chose to traverse the Kalurghat Bridge
to arrive at the neighborhood transmission focus constrained by the Bengali fighters of the eighth
East Bengal Regiment under Major Ziaur Rahman.
Bengali fighters protected the station as architects arranged for transmission. As contact couldn't
be set up between the political pioneers Major Ziaur Rahman was mentioned to communicate the
message. At 7:45 pm on 27 March 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman communicate the message which
got notable as the revelation of autonomy in the interest of Sheik Mujibur Rahman.

The Kalurghat Radio Station's transmission capacity was constrained. The message was gotten
by a Japanese ship in Bay of Bengal. It was then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later by
the BBC. It ran for 5 days as Pakistan Air Force bombarded and harmed it on 30 March. Ten
establishing individuals separated into two gatherings and went to Agartala and Tripura with a 1

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kilowatt transmitter. On 3 April they restarted the telecom from Bagapha of Tripura and late
moved to Agartala. The name was changed to Bangladesh Betar on 6 December 1971 after India
offered acknowledgment to Bangladesh as a sovereign nation. Bangladesh Betar began
broadcasting in autonomous nation on 22 December 1971. With significant gratefulness the
country will consistently recall the administrations of those ten people who included Belal
Muhammad, Syed Abdus Shaker, Mustafa Monwar, Abdullah Al Faruque, Abul Quasem
Shandeep, Aminur Rahman, Rashedul Hossain, A.M. Sharfuzzaman, Kazi Habib Uddin Moni
and Rezaul Karim Chowdhury.

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Key topic

Features of Swadhin Bangla Betar

“Chorompotro” was the most popular program in Swadhin Bangla Betar hosted by M. R. Akhtar
Mukul. He used to define the sore situation of the Pak army in a funny voice. His dialogues were
made in the Old Dhaka language. The program was planned by Abdul Mannan.
Another popular program "Jallader Darbar". It was run by Kalyan Mitra. In this program
approaches of Yahya Khan as "Kella Fateh Khan" were described in a funny manner.
"Bojro Kontho" was also another program where the speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was
presented.
A group of young singers used to sing inspiring songs. Many poems and songs were written for
this broadcasting. One of those songs Joy Bangla Banglar Joy was the signature tune of the radio.
There were many other songs of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra like Purbo Digante Surjo
Uthechhe, Ekti Phoolke Bachabo Bole, Salam Salam Hajar Salam became hugely popular.
Singers of this station sang their songs in different parts of West Bengal. News broadcasts were
made in Bengali, English and Urdu.

Declaration of Independence
The last message from Dacca Betar Kendro was delivered by announcer Nazma Akhtar. She
declared:
"The 75 million people of Bangla Desh, freedom-loving as they are, have been subjected to brutal
genocide by the army.
"The people of Bangla Desh will shed more blood rather than forget the injury. We will never
allow the sacrifice to go in vain."
Soon after the Pakistan army took over Dacca Betar Kendro in the early hours of March 26, 1971.
The Pakistanis renamed the radio station as "Radio Pakistan Dacca" and used it to announce
martial law orders. The Pakistan army’s attempt at silencing the voice of the Bengalis had begun.
Bengalis however fought back. The war of Bangladesh’s Liberation had begun.
In his message Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called upon the people to resist the occupation forces.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested on the night of 25–26 March 1971 at about 1:30 am. A
telegram containing the message of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was sent from Dhaka EPR wireless to
Silimpur wireless station around 11 am 25 March 1971. The asst Eng Golam Rabbani received the
message and transmitted the message to different places, including journalist and political leaders
in Chittagong. Then he tried to send the message to the foreign ships anchored at the bay of
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Bengal. But none of them dare to receive the message. Pakistan Navy trace the message and tried
to create Jam on the transmission and finally threat to the foreign ships not to receive it. However,
The world press reports from late March 1971 also make clear that Bangladesh's declaration of
independence by Bangabandhu was widely reported throughout the world. The telegram message
reached to MR Siddiquee and Johur Ahmed Chy of AL. Early morning of 26 March, an instant
decision made by some locals in Agrabad, M A Hannan have decided to broadcast the message
from Sheikh Mujib

M A Hannan

In the afternoon they went to Kalurghat Radio Transmission to address the declaration. Some radio
Engineers was accompanied with him. First historical declaration was made at 2:10 pm 26 March
1971. This session was lasted only for 5–7 minutes and due to lower transmission quality not
clearly heard. In the late afternoon Syed Anwar Ali and others with the help from transmission
engineers took initiative to broadcast that message. Thus the declaration by Major Ziaur Rahman
came at 7:45 pm 27 March 197.

“This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur
Rahman, hereby declare that Independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction,
I have taken the command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I
call upon all Bengalees to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free
our motherland. Victory is, by the Grace of Allah, ours. Joy Bangla.”

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This was the story of the birth of independent Bangladesh in a small room in the radio transmitter
centre at the industrial township, Kalurghat skirting Chittagong where Surya Sen with a handful
of revolutionaries had 40 years ago challenged the mighty British Government by armed attack on
its armoury. Major Zia's message was heard by a few sub-editors and reporters in news offices in
Dacca while tuning in different stations for news of their own country. Those days they were cut
off from free news circulation and were forced to bring out their papers with press notes and hand-
outs given by the Martial Law Authorities. Newspapers had no authority to use any news broadcast
by radio systems of countries other than Pakistan.Major Zia's message was picked up by a Japanese
ship anchored mid-stream in Chittagong harbour. When the news of this declaration was broadcast
by Radio Australia, the rest of the world came to know of it. Inside Bangladesh those who heard
Radio Australia passed on the news of the historic declaration in whispers to friends, neighbours
and strangers. Major Zia's call had immediate response; the EBR, EPR and the regular police forces
rose in revolt in every town and border outpost.The Pakistan Government authorities made futile
attempts to tell the people that the broadcast was made by a clandestine radio from a ship in the
mouth of river Hooghly in India. Islamabad even sent a note of protest also to New Delhi. The
strength of the Bengali revolutionary forces at Kalurghat went on swelling as people fleeing from
the besieged city of Chittagong collected there. The greatest contribution towards increasing the
strength came from the student community who drafted many for joining up and fought.

Major Ziaur Rahman

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Performers
Apart from M.R. Akhtar Mukul, the other prominent performers of the Radio were:

Kamal Lohani - Head of the News

Rokeya Haider - News in English
Babul Akhtar - News in Bengali
Abdul Jabbar Khan - Director, Drama
Ajit Roy - Music Director and composer
Shujeo Shyam - Music Director and singer
Apel Mahmud - Singer
Amitava Sengupta - Singer
Manjula Dasgupta - Singer
Abdul Jabbar - Singer
Mala Khan - Singer
Rupa Khan - Singer
Rafiqul Alam - Singer
Kaderi Kibria - Singer
Lucky Akhand - Singer
Jahangir Hayat Khan - Musician
Mohammad Shah - Recitation from Puthi (Bengali folk rhymes)
Nasimul Quader Chowdhury - News
Zahid Siddique - Head of Urdu News, Script, Kothika writer
Mihir Kumar Nandi - Singer
Sk. Foysal Islam - English News Reader, Bangladesh Betar, Khulna
Subhash Dutta
Timir Nandi - Singer
Fakir Alamgir - Singer
Sumita Devi

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 M.R. Akhtar Mukul Kamal Lohani

Abdul Jabbar Khan Ajit Roy Abdul Jabbar

Apel Mahmud Kaderi Kibria Lucky Akhand

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 Fakir Alamgir Mihir Kumar Nandi Timir Nandi

Sumita Devi Subhash Dutta Rafiqul Alam

The government on Tuesday 11th July,2017 awarded freedom fighter status to 58 more artistes of
Liberation War time radio centre Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra for their outstanding contribution
to the liberation war, reports BSS.

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Review
Intense times tend to raise intense art. The Liberation War in 1971 was an emotional period for
Bangladeshis and the songs tapped a reservoir of emotions: hope, longing, loneliness, and love.
During the liberation war, patriotic songs were transmitted from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, a
radio broadcasting centre in Kolkata, which later became a legend.
The songs transmitted from the radio station worked like fire in encouraging the freedom fighters
on the battle fields and in the minds of general people seeking liberation. During the whole period
of Liberation War, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra successfully carried out its intellectual war like
an organised front and aired patriotic songs which greatly inspired the freedom fighters in their
relentless fight against the Pakistan-led occupation forces, war news and talk shows to boost up
people’s spirit.
In a conversation with Dhaka Tribune, Rafiqul Alam, a freedom fighter and a music composer of
the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra during the war of independence, chalked out the formation of
SBBK and its importance and functional value during the war.
“It was a surreal time of utter pandemonium and Mayhem. After the war broke out I went to
Maldoho for training. My elder brother Sarwar Jahan was a famous singer and I was an aspiring
one back then. A senior artist told me the war of independence is not supposed to be fought only
with guns. He informed me about a revolutionary radio station was under process and asked me to
join them as a vocal artist and that changed my fate forever,” he said.
Alam further added: “The broadcast of this radio station eventually became so inseparable from the
ongoing war and was important to the freedom fighters also. Moreover, many prominent
intellectuals, poets and journalists could contact us and give their suggestions through this station.
This Radio station functioned like a forum which made the world understand our urge for freedom
and our own ethnic tradition as a nation.”
“A song can motivate millions of people in an instant as it has done on many an occasions
throughout our history,” said renowned singer Apel Mahmood, composer of legendary songs like
Mora Ekti Phul Ke Bachabo, Ek Shagor Rokter Binimoye and many more. He believes music
worked as a spiritual weapon, inspiring the freedom fighters to fight till the very end.
Recalling the history, Apel said: “The station went on air on 25 may, the birthday of rebel poet
Kazi Nazrul Islam. However, I joined the station on June 1. The news section was headed by
Kamal Lohani. The news readers and announcers were Babul Aktar, Ali Reza, Mahtab, Motahar
and so on.”
We used to broadcast programmes in Bangla, English and Urdu. Dramas, musical programmes and
talk shows were parts of the regular transmission. There was also Charampatra by M R Akhter
Mukul which gained huge popularity. We used to air special programmes on special days. At one
point, we even surpassed Akashvani in the number of listeners.”
Apel said: “To me, the station was no less strong in fighting than any guns.”
Another rebel singer Fakir Alamgir believes that the biggest achievement of SBBK was to bring a
huge number of artists and intellectuals to a single platform. “And the result is history. The awe
inspiring songs during the war, and still now, have a huge impact on people as a nation. We the
vocal fighters belong to a long chain of artists which includes George Harrison Joan Baez and
many more.”

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LEGACY AND CONCLUSION
After the war, on the 16th December 1971 the country earned its victory. The exile Mujibnagar
Government decided to return home on 22 December. The workers of Swadhin Bangla Betar
Kendro had been asked to return Dhaka and arranged live broadcast of the event opening the Dhaka
station. Accordingly a group comprising program producers and engineers returned home on the
same day and arranged the live commentary. The workers of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro were
recruited in the radio according to their eligibility and desires. The Betar workers devoted
themselves in the development of the organization and nation building activities.

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August, 1975, in the morning, they
opened the station by started announcing the killing of Sheikh Mujib and also changed the name
of Bangladesh Betar to Radio Bangladesh. Since then the name of Bangladesh Betar remained
Radio Bangladesh till July 1996 when Awami League, the party which led the Liberation War in
1971, came to power after the general elections in 1996. Actually, officially the Bangladesh Betar
was the correct name of radio.

Considering the socio-economic condition of Bangladesh, although radio is the most effective
mass medium, its popularity declined during the last decade. The trend attributable to the
availability of TV sets to more number of people, especially in the rural areas. Besides,
monotonous programs of Bangladesh Betar, one-sided news, non-participation of common people,
excessive studio-based programs and disconnection from the people contributed to the decline.
The Media survey 2002 of Bangladesh Communication Programs revealed that the number of
listeners declined to 30 per cent in 2002 from 66 per cent in 1995.

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Reference

https://www.dhakatribune.com/uncategorized/2013/12/15/a-tribute-to-swadhin-
bangla-betar-kendra
https://www.thedailystar.net/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendro-and-bangladeshs-
declaration-of-independence-52001
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swadhin_Bangla_Betar_Kendra
https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/special/2018/03/06/swadhin-bangla-betar-
aided-psychological-warfare-1971
http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Swadhin_Bangla_Betar_Kendra
http://old.betar.gov.bd/details-of-bangabondhu/
http://next-education-world.blogspot.com/2011/12/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendraa-
weapon-for.html
https://radioullash.com/overview-swadhin-bangla-betar-kendra/
http://www.londoni.co/index.php/23-history-of-bangladesh/1971-muktijuddho/151-
muktijuddho-bangladesh-liberation-war-1971-swadhin-bangla-betar-kendra-history-
of-bangladesh
https://greenwatchbd.com/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendra-singers-render-liberation-
war-songs/
https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-131453
http://m.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/38416/2016-03-25
https://busy.org/@asm.sayem/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendra-the-war-hero-of-the-
war-of-liberation-war-heroic-legend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VYu5Ukfk3U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HNnR81i-pc

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Appendix

Belal Muhammad

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