Music with a mission

With this month’s flood ravaging communities, sweeping away homes and leaving people and livestock amid acute shortage of food and drinking water, a grim scenario now prevails across Moulvibazar.
In an effort to come forward and support the flood-hit people, young musicians have hit the streets, singing their soulful melodies to raise funds for relief campaign.
Every day, young singers from the town are performing at Choumohana Chatwar in Moulvibazar Sadar upazila and at Shaheed Minar premises and Bhabaniganj Bazar in Juri upazila to collect contributions for flood relief.
“The funds raised will directly reach flood-affected areas for relief effort. I am personally coordinating it,” said Oishi Chakladar, a young singer.
Subrata Sutradhar, who brought his two daughters to join the effort, said, “My daughters want to contribute and stand beside the flood-hit people by singing songs.”
Locals have praised the initiative saying such efforts will engage the community in addressing the crisis and provide valuable assistance to those affected by the flood.
Mir Yusuf Ali, an organiser of the initiative, said, “I posted on my Facebook on last Saturday about our initiative and received overwhelming response. About 50 artists and their families have joined us.”
In Juri upazila, similar street performances by a group of cultural activists took place on Tuesday.
The musicians performed numerous songs, including “Manush dhoro manush bhojo”, “Manush manusher jonno” and “Ami manab dharme manab karme sapinu e pran-mon”, among others.
The event attracted people from all walks of life, with many seen to sing alongside.
Husna Begum, a local, said, “Watching the children sing so soulfully for the flood-affected people, I decided to contribute.”
Shadekul Alam, an expatriate, said, “It’s an inspiring effort. It gives me hope that people will come together to support one another.”
Milon Das, a battery run auto-rickshaw driver, said, “I have also contributed to help those in need.”
Mridul Ghosh, a student and cultural activist who is the key organiser of the initiative, said, “We organised the event to raise funds for the flood-hit people, and the response has been encouraging.”
“All the collected money will be used to provide relief to flood victims,” he added.