Melai jai re, the upbeat track by Feedback remained inseparable from the celebrations of Pohela Boishakh ever since it was written in 1988. After 27 years since its inception, the song triggered controversy and protest among a some, during the celebration of Pohela Boishakh this year on April 14.
While everyone was busy celebrating the first day of Bengali year 1423, four youths were seen standing in front of the National Museum in the capital’s Shahbagh area with placards to protest against “bokhate chheler bhire lolonader rehai nai” - a line from the popular song.
They called upon the band Feedback to change the line, which means “pretty girls have no respite from unruly boys” if translated into English.
They termed the lyric “objectionable.”
According to the protesters this verse of the song has been disseminating wrong message for years now. They demanded that the line be changed or removed from a song which is broadcast on the eve of Pohela Boishakh.
In response to the thoughts, Maqsoodul Haque, the lyricist of the song shared a post on his Facebook account on April 18.
Maqsood, a veteran rock musician and vocalist of popular band Maqsood O Dhaka, wrote: “With utmost modesty, I would like to ask if you have ever heard the word ‘bokhate’ [delinquents] in any Bangla song? I was bound to use this word because I could not find a better swearword to identify these beasts. Those who are not being able to grasp the expression and the so-called ‘modern feminists’ are pulling this cheap campaign just to irritate me.”
Maqsood told the correspondent: “As per the constitution, I have the right to freedom of expression and under no circumstance am I bound to change the lyrics. There is no evidence that someone has committed crimes like sexual assault or rape inspired by this line.”
“Instead of taking the word ‘bokhate’ positively, which has been used as a strong negative attribution towards the unruly men who harass women in crowd, these people are conspiring against me and trying to compel me to change my lyric! I wonder where these people were throughout the last 25 years!” said Maqsood.
However, Maqsood suggests that a counter campaign can be conducted by using a slogan like: “Lolonara douran dile, bokhateder rehai nai” (if the girls start chasing, there’s no escape for the delinquents) The seasoned musician claims his intellectual property right over the newly-constructed sentence.
