SHILLONG: Nostalgia gripped the President of Bangladesh when he and his family visited the Brookside Bungalow, where Tagore had stayed in 1919, in Rilbong on Friday.
President Abdul Hamid told the waiting media persons at Brookside that it was 47 years ago that he had visited Meghalaya to take part in the Liberation War.
He was the sub-sector commander of the Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) during the war. “My role was to organise the volunteers and many fought and died during the war,” he recalled while dwelling on those “difficult days”.
Hamid came to Rilbong after visiting Bidhan House in Laban where the second chief minister of West Bengal Bidhan Chandra Roy had stayed between 1948 and 1962. The building is currently used as a state guest house.
Earlier, Hamid embarked on another nostalgic visit to Balat where he had organised volunteers to fight during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
However, the President said he could not visit the burial ground for Mukti Bahinis in Balat due to shortage of time.
Though he wished to visit Jit Bhumi, now a private residence in Rilbong where Tagore wrote the drama Raktakarabi (Red Oleanders) in 1923 and a poem Shillong Er Chithi (Letters from Shillong), he could not do so since the house owners and the caretaker were away.
During his previous visit to Shillong in the 1970s, he had visited Brookside Bungalow for the first time. “The house is the same and there are not many changes,” he said.
The Assam-type building, now known as Rabindranath Tagore Art Gallery, is maintained by the Meghalaya Arts and Culture Department.
After entering the building, Hamid recited a few poems from Gitanjali in Bengali which was placed on a table. The original handwritten verses hung on the wall.
Later, he glanced at the bed that was used by Tagore and the gallery where the paintings of art students were exhibited.
At Brookside, he also met a select group of Bangladeshi students studying in city colleges.
Asked about the Tagore connection, Hamid said the national anthems of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka were written by the Nobel laureate. Amar Sonar Bangla (my golden Bengal) authored by Tagore is the national anthem of Bangladesh.
Asked about the relation between India and Bangladesh, Hamid said, “India-Bangladesh relations were deep-rooted and India had always helped Bangladesh in difficult times.”
He added that India had provided food and shelter to members of the Mukti Bahini and helped in the Liberation war.
Shillong is not new to the President as he had stayed in Bidhan House. He had also hired a house in Laban in the past when his family members had come for treatment.
“Such is the love of the President that he even brought his grandchildren to Shillong so that they can cherish their memories when they are old,” a member of the President’s entourage told reporters after pointing at the granddaughter who was holding on to Hamid.
As many as 12 members of the family, including the President and his wife, Rashida Khanam, their three sons, daughter and grandchildren visited the important historical sites.
The total number of delegates accompanying Hamid was 70.
Before leaving for Raj Bhavan, the President paid floral tributes to the statue of Tagore outside the bungalow.
Earlier, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma received him at Upper Shillong helipad and Governor Ganga Prasad at Raj Bhavan.
The President will spend the night at Raj Bhavan on Friday and will return to Guwahati as he has to leave for New Delhi to attend the International Solar Alliance on March 11.
Other members of the delegation will leave for Bangladesh via Dawki.
