Musicians and fans of Chittagong have stood up to protect the timeless melodies and music of legendary rock star Ayub Bachchu.
Recently, the Tribute album ‘Inheritation’ has sparked outrage across the entire music scene over the alleged distorting the original melodies and feelings of the elrabic head of the LRB chief. “Voice for AB” organised an exceptional silent protest at the premises of the port city of Rupali, which was set up in memory of Ayub Bachchu, to protest the incident and demand the immediate withdrawal of the controversial album from the market and digital medium.
The silent protest took place at the historic ‘Rupali Guitar Chattar’ at the city’s promoter intersection at 5pm on Friday. Famous artists, musicians and thousands of music lovers from different bands of Chittagong gathered in this square, which is associated with Ayub Bachchu’s memory. They stood in silence with various banners and posters in their hands and protested against the disrespect towards the music.
Earlier, the final decision was taken at a discussion meeting moderated by Hafiz Ahmed Mubin, a founding member of the Roots Band and a prominent musician.
From the rally, the organizers and artists gave a clear message that the movement is not against the individual, but rather a struggle to protect the heritage and invaluable resources of Bengali rock music. The artists say:
“The new generation will sing and cover the song of Ayub Bachchu. But in the name of the tribute, the main melody, emotions and soul of the song cannot be distorted. Music and music are part of our music. To capture the creation of Ayub Bachchu, the quality and individuality of his music must be kept intact.”
The protesters immediately revised the controversial songs of the album ‘Inheritance’ and demanded that it be withdrawn from the market. At the same time, the government and concerned quarters called upon the government and the concerned quarters to establish a modern ‘music academy’ or ‘Institute’ named Ayub Bachchu to properly preserve the creation of this mythuru of the tune for the next generation. So that in the future, the right education from these academies can be created by international standard musicians.
Legendary Ayub Bachchu’s song is a big warning to the band music industry that has been subjected to such distortion. These protesting voices of Chittagong have raised one question in the minds of every person in the country – will the institutions responsible for preserving the tradition of Bengali music really awaken this time?