September on Jessore Road
"September on Jessore Road" is a poem by American poet and activist Allen Ginsberg, inspired by the plight of the East Bengali refugees from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Ginsberg wrote it after visiting the refugee camps in what was then West Bengal in India.
Background
The Jessore Road (about 108 kilometres (67 mi) long) was an important road connecting Bangladesh with West Bengal, India. The road was used by refugees during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and the Bangladesh genocide to move to safety in India.[1]
During the Liberation War, the US government under president Richard Nixon was an ally of Pakistan, although liberals such as Senator Edward Kennedy were vocal in their support of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan).[2] Ginsberg first became aware of the refugees' suffering through the reports of foreign correspondents. He wrote the poem after visiting the camps on Jessore Road in 1971.[3]
History
"September on Jessore Road" was one of several examples of Western artists voicing their support for the Bengali refugees' cause following George Harrison's charity single "Bangla Desh" and Ravi Shankar's "Joi Bangla", both released on Apple Records in July–August 1971.[4][5] Ginsberg first recited the poem in a poetry recitation held at St. George's Episcopal Church in New York City.[1][6] He also included it in a PBS television special filmed in New York on October 30.[7] Ginsberg performed the piece with musical backing, which included Bob Dylan on guitar.[7][8]
Dylan, who performed with Harrison, Shankar and other musicians at the Concert for Bangladesh on August 1, 1971, later set "September on Jessore Road" to music.[1][6] He and Ginsberg recorded it as part of a proposed collaborative album on Apple Records, titled Holy Soul & Jelly Roll,[7] during sessions held at the Record Plant in New York in November that year.[9] On December 17, The New York Times published what the newspaper described as "half the poem", and mentioned Ginsberg's visit to the refugee camps as its inspiration.[10] Moushumi Bhowmik did a rendition of the poem in Bengali.[11] The Ginsberg–Dylan recording was included on flexi-discs accompanying issues of Sing Out! magazine in 1972 before appearing on the 1994 Rhino Word Beat compilation Allen Ginsberg: Holy Soul Jelly Roll – Poems and Songs (1949–1993).[7]
As of 2016, "September on Jessore Road" was reproduced on two large posters, written in English and Bengali, at the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka.[2] In 2017, Anwarul Karim, a Harvard Visiting Scholar in 1985, and latterly Pro-Vice Chancellor of Northern University Bangladesh, wrote of the poem's impact:
Allen Ginsberg made it an epoch making poem giving details of his on the spot observation. It speaks of the whole of the people who fought for their mother tongue and also for freedom to lead a life of a heroic nation. Allen Ginsberg was bold enough voicing protest and hatred against his own government and the US President for waging war against Vietnam and also for supporting Pakistan for crushing freedom-loving people of Bangladesh. But both US and Pakistan finally met the poetic justice as they both faced defeat at the hands of freedom loving people of Vietnam and Bangladesh.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "Jessore Road brings back memories of '71". The Daily Star. BSS. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ a b Slovic, Scott (July 20, 2016). "September on Jessore Road". The Arithmetic of Compassion. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ^ a b Karim, Anwarul (December 22, 2017). "Poet Allen Ginsberg and September on Jessore Road". The New Nation. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
- ^ Ferdous, Fahmim (December 16, 2015). "When the World Sang for Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ^ Raghavan, Srinath (2013). 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 146–47. ISBN 978-0-674-72864-6.
- ^ a b "September on Jessore Road". The Daily Star. December 16, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Björner, Olof. "Still on the Road: 1971 Recording Sessions". bjorner.com. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
- ^ Sounes, Howard (2001). Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. London: Doubleday. p. 269. ISBN 0-385-60125-5.
- ^ Heylin, Clinton (2011). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades (The 20th Anniversary Edition). London: Faber and Faber. pp. 332–33. ISBN 978-0-571-27240-2.
- ^ "On Jessore Road". The New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ^ Bandyopadhyay, Krishnendu (September 1, 2013). "Jessore Road: A ride through hell". The Times of India. Retrieved August 22, 2017.