BanglaChronicles Podcast: Celebrated Author Anisul Haque on Literature, War and Healing
Bestselling novelist and playwright Anisul Haque joins BanglaChronicles to discuss his creative journey, his iconic novel "Ma", the responsibility of fiction to preserve historical memory and the Bangladesh he imagines.
Anisul Haque is one of Bangladesh's most beloved writers — a novelist, playwright and journalist whose work has touched the lives of millions. His novel "Ma" (Mother) about the 1971 Liberation War sold over 800,000 copies and was adapted into a critically acclaimed film.
On Writing "Ma"
"I met Azad's mother in Sylhet — a woman who had waited 30 years for her son to come home from the Liberation War. She did not know he had been martyred. She had kept his room exactly as he left it. When I heard her story, I knew I had to write it. Literature's job is to make the past present and the absent alive."
On the Liberation War's Legacy
"The Liberation War is not history for Bangladeshis. It is a living wound and a living source of pride. We must tell its stories honestly — including the parts that are difficult. Literature is better than textbooks at this because it reaches the heart, not just the mind."
On Bengali Language
"Our language is our greatest gift and our identity. The fact that we have a national holiday for the language — a holiday that is now recognised by UNESCO — tells you everything about the Bengali relationship with words."
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Excellent reporting! This is exactly the kind of in-depth analysis we need.
সত্যিই অসাধারণ। ধন্যবাদ বাংলা ক্রনিকল টিমকে।
Great article. I shared this with my entire family.