Former president Pranab Mukherjee plea for creativity signs off Dhaka lit fest

Dhaka: From Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann to Tagore and Gandhi, former President Pranab Mukherjee’s speech at the closing ceremony of the International Bengali Literature Conference-1424 here on Monday had references to all.
On his first foreign trip after retiring in July, Mukherjee left the audience optimistic by emphasising how creativity could stop the pollution plaguing humanity.In the afternoon, he met Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.
Describing his responsibilities as President, he said he had enough time to read as Indian democracy doesn’t require much active participation from the President. “If the PM needed advice, I was there. Besides, I had to address one joint session of Parliament a year,” he said in a speech peppered with references to “my government”.
Mukherjee insisted he was privileged to attend the closing ceremony. However, his role there was restricted to that of a jogari (helper) who aids a mason when he constructs a building designed by an architect.
He lauded the organisers for coming up with the Dhaka declaration where creative people pledged to make the world a better place. “The world is plagued by terrorism. I don’t know what they want when they kill innocent people. The biggest problem facing the world is the pollution in the mind of people. This can only be removed by creative people,” he said before paying homage to the February 21 martyrs. “There couldn’t have been a better country to organise the conference.”
Then, he dwelt on Tagore, who had written to thinkers expressing concern over the world’s future and asking them why they were silent during World War II and when Einstein was ill-treated because he was a Jew. A letter provided him a reassuring response: “Tagore, the course of civilisation has never been dominated by the swords of conquerors, but by persons who preach the message of love and compassion. Therefore, contemporary history is not going to be shaped by the black shirts of Mussolini, the brown shirts of Hitler, not even the red shirts of Stalin but by a frail person who has no shirt and lives in your country — Mahatma Gandhi.”
Painter Jogen Chowdhury, director Goutam Ghose, poet Subodh Sarkar and singer Rezwana Chowdhury Bonnya were among those who heard Mukherjee speak. Earlier, Chowdhury suggested that in future such a conference should include participation of painters and recited a poem he had penned in 1971.
Mukherjee also visited Dhanmondi museum located in the building where rogue army officers assassinated Bangabandhu and most of his family on August 15, 1975. He will next attend a special convocation of Chittagong University, which will confer an honorary doctorate on him. He is also expected to visit Surya Sen’s ancestral home in Noapara village of Chittagong’s Raozan.