Shawdesh desk:

The government is yet to preserve the microphones and amplifiers used for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 speech though 51 years have elapsed since the delivery of the momentous address in 1971.

Some of these invaluable pieces used by Bangabandhu during his historic speech in Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka are still preserved by Call-Ready, but owners of the microphone company are not sure that how long they would be able to preserve those pieces.

While talking to the Daily Sun on Sunday, Call-Ready Chairman Biswanath Ghosh said, “Bangabandhu’s speech is known as the call for our independence. Realising its importance, even UNESCO has included it in the Memory of the World International Register, but the government has not taken any initiative yet to collect these from us. I don’t know what would happen to these famous testaments after our death.”

He said that when the government has formulated a number of programmes to highlight the historic speech and its appeal to our history, its reluctance in preserving these remarkable apparatuses is surprising.

“During the shooting of Bangabandhu’s biopic, film related people contacted us to collect those historic microphones and amplifiers while portraying the March 7 rally. They are also astonished as these national treasures are conserved by us,” Biswanath said in a frustrating tone. He said that they have communicated with the government high-ups in this regard but got no response.

Talking about the long story of preserving these microphones and amplifiers, Call-Ready Director and Biswanath’s younger brother Trinath Ghosh Sagar said, “Since my late father Haripada Ghosh and uncle Dayal Ghosh and Kanai Ghosh had uninstalled these microphones and amplifiers upon the completion of the March 7 rally, they had risked their lives to preserve these historic pieces.”

He said the Pakistan Army had conducted a raid and burnt down their home and office during the Operation Searchlight in later part of March 1971, but his father and uncle had managed to flee and hide a microphone stand and three to four mouthpieces and amplifiers used in the March 7 rally in a cousin’s house. Trinath said the mouthpieces – German-made, Indian-assembled mikes from Green Bullet and Sure Company – do not work now.

“I don’t know why no government approached us to collect these historic symbols in the last 51 years. It is high time for the government to collect and save the equipment,” he said.

Experts and historians are also surprised hearing that microphones and amplifiers of March 7 rally are not preserved by the state.

Dr Mesbah Kamal, professor of History at Dhaka University, said, “This is really unfortunate. Bangabandhu’s March 7 speech is one of the best speeches in the world history. Verifying the authenticity, these historic apparatus must be preserved. In fact, these needed to be preserved much earlier. Yet the time has not finished. Bangladesh National Museum can come forward. If they fail, these can be preserved at the Liberation War Museum as well.”

According to Trinath Ghosh, his father and uncles, along with around 30 people, had set up around 150 mikes covering the total Race Course Maidan and Motijheel and New Market area at the dark night of March 6 ignoring all possible dangers.

“Bangabandhu called my father to his Dhanmondi residence on March 4 and asked him to set up the mikes for the March 7 programme,” he said.

Call-Ready is a very familiar name among the mass people of Bangladesh through the small plastic plaque attached to the microphones in most of the rallies of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Awami League. The company was established by Dayal Ghosh and Haripada Ghosh, sons of Debendra Chandra Ghosh of Bikrampur, initially as Arzo Light House in 1948 in Old Dhaka’s Hrishikesh Das Road to provide lights in different social and cultural programmes.

Later in 1949, it was renamed when its owners imported microphones and amplifiers to get hired.

Since then Call-Ready had provided service in all major events in the then East Pakistan and a warm relationship between Bangabandhu and the Ghosh brothers had developed.

Today, none of the Call-Ready founders remain alive. Their successors, four brothers – Bishwanath Ghosh, Trinath Ghosh Sagar, Shibnath Ghosh and Shambhunath Ghosh are running the traditional microphone service company.

“My father and uncles always wanted to see that Call-Ready getting recognised for their valiant contributions for the nation,” Trinath said.

He believes that still it is necessary as everyone should be evaluated according to their role in the history.