Dr Mizanur Rahman Shelley has seen life up close through different lenses — as a student politician, as a bureaucrat, as an academic and as a technocrat minister. As a writer, he has tried different genres of writing, poetry included, and done so successfully. In ‘The symphony of our times’, his memoir in progress which will be serialised in My Blog (He is one of my close friends and has given his permission), starting from today, Dr Shelley leads the readers down memory lane... 

PART VII

ANOTHER interesting area was the reputed Armanitola maidan or ground. Surrounded by busy roads on all sides, the modest ground looked vast to us. Many of our afternoons were replete with recollections of visits there with our elders. We thoroughly enjoyed the football games held there, while nibbling freshly-baked peanuts with salt and peppers, spicy puffed rice and chanachur. 
Another recollection of the Armanitola ground is related to an early episode of Pakistani politics those days. It was possibly towards the end of 1949 that the newly-formed opposition party the Awami Muslim League (later renamed Awami League) arranged a political rally and meeting in the Armanitola ground. 
In the new state of Pakistan, the federal government as well as many provincial governments including East Bengal was in the grip of the ruling Muslim League. Many famous Muslim political leaders of undivided India such as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque and Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani for various reasons had fallen out of the Muslim league. It was under their leadership that the decedents got organised in an anti-Muslim League political formation. 
Their efforts bore fruits in the then East Bengal (today’s Bangladesh) within a short time. But these opposition forces, especially the Awami Muslim League, were relatively weak. As a result, in this early period their meetings and rallies did not gather large crowd. Not only that, the musclemen of the ruling party often attacked opposition meetings and procession to break them up while the police stood by, silent and inactive. 
Towards the end of 1949, the Awami Muslim League organised a public meeting in the Armanitola ground. Shuhrawardy, recently arrived from India, delivered a fiery speech in this meeting. As far as I remember, it was with mejo mama that we went to this meeting. After speeches by several lesser leaders, Suhrawardy came to the stage and started speaking in his impressive style. 
As he mounted a sharp criticism of the ruling Muslim League a gang of musclemen armed with sticks raided the assembly and struck terror among the audience and almost broke up the meeting. The crowd would not be cowed; they rallied around and started throwing brick bats at the attackers. Clash ensured between the two warring sides. Seeing this deplorable situation, mejo mama led us by the hand and we quickly left the maidan. We reached home at gathering dusk, rich with a new experience marked by fear and thrill.
Many varied recollections of life within the precincts of 10 Mahuttuli crowd the mind. On holidays there was no school for choto khalamma and apa. We gathered in the terrace and engaged in a variety of games. We pretended to stage plays and dramas of Shakespeare and other noted writers without costumes and decorations. One of the plays depicted the repression and torture of common people by mighty feudal Lords in medieval Britain. Choto khalamma played the role of a cruel landlord, apa that of an humble subject who was awarded death sentence for simply hunting a deer in the landlord’s estate. Unfortunately, in this tragic drama, I was cast in the role of a brute muscleman ofthe heartless landlord! 
One other recollection is vivid in the mind. At the back of 10 Mahuttuli there was a cosy residence where lived reputed poet and teacher ANM. Bazlul Rashid. This humble and modest, simple and dedicated teacher and poet rode a bi-cycle to work. Clips were attached to the bottomsof his trouser to ensure safe riding. We were amused and impressed by his outfit, clips and all. Son of Bazlur Rashid, DA Rashid later became a popular and jolly director of Immigration and Passport of the Bangladesh government. 
To be continued.