Not forgotten

It’s been just a few days since legendary singer and composer, Lucky Akhand passed has away at a hospital in Dhaka, after suffering from prolonged illness at the age of 61. On Wednesday, it would have been the singer’s 62nd birthday. He was born on June 7, 1956 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The death of Akhand on April 21, created quite a stir around the country, and tributes poured in,  tears have fallen. But was the legendary musician properly remembered on his birthday? From the look of the numbers of programmes commemorating Akhand around the town, which, according to the singer’s daughter Mamminti, is null, the answer is negative. Mamminti confirmed that the family members paid a visit to his grave on the occasion of his birthday and prayed for the salvation of his soul. Other than that, no programme has been undertaken to celebrate the birthday of the recently demised freedom fighter artist. Ershadul Haque Tinku, who used to look after the singer for the last few months in his life, believes that there is an information gap in this regard, which may cause the lack or absence of commemoration events thereof. “There’s a confusion surrounding the spelling of Lucky Akhand’s name and birthday. Several sources like Wikipedia states that Akhand’s birthday is on June 18, 1956, while according to some relatives of the artist, the real date is June 7. On the other hand, the date is January 31, according to his passport, making it really hard to confirm the real birthday.” While asked, Mamminti confirmed that the date is June 7 and there should be no confusion about it. Lucky Akhand’s has influenced legions of artists in Bangladesh, and continues to be a leading figure in modern Bangla music. Musicians from across genres have expressed grief after he passed away. He was given a state funeral and laid to rest in the Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Cemetery.