Today is the birthday of Pijush Bandyopadhyay, an actor with a difference.
He was born on this day in 1950 in the greater Faridpur district where Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born.
He has been carrying the ideal of Bangabandhu's non-communal politics in all aspects of his personal and professional life, famous columnist and lyricist Abdul Gaffar Choudhury wrote, about him.
A messenger of harmony, Pijush Bandyopadhyay is multidimensional in his career and character. He is spearheading the campaign of secular Bangladesh through a platform called ‘Sampritee Bangladesh’.
He studied journalism in Dhaka University. But he is well-known as an actor, playwright and director. Back in his student life, he was engaged in the politics of Bangladesh Chhatra League. He was a freedom fighter in the 1971 Liberation War and then engaged himself in introducing new genres of Bengali drama in post-independent Bangladesh.
In fact, he is the pioneer in introducing new genres in dramas and alternative films in Bangladesh.\ Pijush Bandyopadhyay played the role of Bangabandhu in the play "Palashi theke Dhanmondi" made in 2004-05 at a time when the anti-liberation forces were in power. The main conspiracy behind the assassination of Bangabandhu was exposed through that drama for the first time. It was difficult to get artists to play in that drama.
“I have the privilege of working with him. I have seen the expression of love of people across the country towards him. When he speaks, all the audiences listen intently. His ability to influence and inspire people is endless. He is a good leader who influences and inspires everyone to come under one ideal,” Anoy Mukherjee, a member of Sampritee Bangladesh, told Bangladesh Post.
His multifaceted qualities are no longer unknown today. He has been involved in the politics of Chhatra League from his student life in the sixties. He took part in the 1966 Six Point Movement. At that time, he was the leader of the greater Faridpur district Chhatra League and a well-known name. While serving as the vice-president of Faridpur District Chhatra League, he got the opportunity to work in direct association with Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Later he responded to Bangabandhu's call and participated in the great war of liberation. He was one of the pioneers who started the Nabanatya movement after the liberation war. He was a close companion of Bangabandhu's son Sheikh Kamal.
He was a member of the founding committee of the Sammilita Sangskritik Jote. He was also a founding member of the Bangladesh Group Theater Federation. The 'Bangladesh Jubo Oikko ' was formed in 1985 under the leadership of Pijush Bandyopadhyay. This organisation later played an important role in the formation of the Youth Struggle Council.
He served as a professional journalist for a long time. He edited the Daily Lal Sabuj in 1990-94. He has also been writing regular columns and articles in national and international media from 1986 to the present.
He has been vocal in every front-line media of Bangladesh in favor of the spirit of the war of liberation. Also, he has done a lot of work on literature. The number of books published and edited by him is more than 20. He was the first Bangladeshi to represent the country in the Cairo international film festival.
In 2018, Sampritee Bangladesh was formed under his leadership. The main goal was to spread the ideology of Bangabandhu, spirit of the liberation war and philosophy of Bengali culture among the youth society.
Sampritee Bangladesh is constantly working to build a secular Bangladesh as dreamt of by Bangabandhu.
“Apart from being a youth organiser of the liberation war, he has also played a successful role in developing the consciousness of the liberation war and forming public opinion against communalism under the direction of Sheikh Hasina in the post-independence period,” wrote Abdul Gaffar Choudhury.
