Desk report
The one who has so many arrangements around him, the one for whom so much waiting. Pakistani musician Rahat Fateh Ali Khan came on stage with a song. It was 9:50 pm. Wearing Punjabi, he said in Bengali as soon as he got on stage, ‘Assalamu Alaikum, Bangladesh I love you.’ After exchanging greetings with the countless spectators of the Army Stadium, he sang, ‘Tu Na Jaane As Paas Hai Khuda’. One by one, he sang his own well-known songs.
However, Rahat Fateh Ali arrived at the stadium quite a bit earlier. He spent some time in the temporary rest room behind the stage. He exchanged greetings with the organizers and guests. He fulfilled the fans’ demand for photos.
Earlier, the concert doors opened at 2 pm on Saturday. A long line of music lovers could be seen in front of the Army Stadium from before. The attendance of the audience increased as time went on. The concert started at 4 pm with a series of performances at the Army Stadium. Then, rapper Hannan, known for the song ‘Awaz Uda’, came on stage. At the beginning, he performed the rap song, Hannan had served jail time for singing the song during the student-public uprising. After Hannan’s performance, another famous rapper Sezan came on stage. Sejan became known to the general audience with the song ‘Katha Ka’. When he performed the song on stage, it created a huge response among the audience.
After the break, the rock band Aftermath came on stage at 5:30. The band’s vocalist Navid Iftekhar Chowdhury, holding the microphone, told the audience, “Aftermath has never performed at the Army Stadium before. This is my first time singing at the Army Stadium. This time, my dream has come true.” At the ‘Echoes of Revolution’ concert at the Army Stadium today, the band began by singing the song ‘Odhikar’, which is popular among the youth. After that, Aftermath performed a few songs including ‘Utsorg’ and ‘Matir Rod’. After their performance, Chirkut came on stage at the Echoes of Revolution concert in the evening. At the beginning, the musicians played the tune of the national anthem. The audience sitting in the stadium’s spectator seats stood up in respect for the national anthem.
Then the band’s vocalist Sumi started the performance with the patriotic song ‘Dhandhanya Pushpabhara’. Then the band spread the excitement with songs like ‘Morre Jab’, ‘Jadur Shahar’, ‘Ahaare Jibon’. The audience found their passion in these songs by Molayem Sur. Before leaving the stage after the performance, the audience expressed their love for the band with a round of applause. At one stage of the program, Sarjis Alam, one of the coordinators of the anti-discrimination movement, Mir Mahbubur Rahman Snigdha, CEO of the July Smriti Foundation, Atiqur Rahman, who was injured in the movement, Khokon Chandra Barman, mother of Shaheed Ahnaf, and sister of Shaheed Saikat, took to the stage to speak.
Organizers said that the proceeds from this concert will be donated to the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation, a welfare organization that works with the families of martyrs and injured people.
