Page 249 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

246 ART AND CRAFTS

cartoonists of India. He had inspired many of the first generation
cartoonists of Bangladesh through his works. But it was not only the
works of Piciel, as we come to know through a conversation with one
of the first generation cartoonists of our country, Rafiqun Nabi, that
inspired them when they had become very involved with cartoons in
the 60s. Indian cartoonists such as Abu Abraham, Kutti, Laxman,
Shanker had also inspired them immensely (figs. 5.9, 5.10). One of
the reasons for this was the availability of Indian publications at that
time and seeing the works of these cartoonists in those publications.
The other reason was the similar social and political scenarios of both
the countries. As cartoons are mainly based on political and social
issues, the identical situation made the flow of ideas meaningful.
The partition of 1947 created a new political geography. An
opportunity of politics, cultural activities and urban life centering
around Dhaka was created. On the other hand, a state born based on
religion and the conservative and reactionary stand of the helmsmen
of that state gave birth to a peculiar cultural-political chemistry. In
this perspective, a socio-political artwork like cartoon began its
journey through a period of ‘fertile hostility’. Fertility came through
the process of new thoughts of life for a people in a new city. On the other hand, the
hostility of the political order created new challenges for the creativity of the artist. In
this scenario cartoon began its journey in Bangladesh in the 50s.
One of the torchbearers of fine arts in this country, Quamrul Hassan, had done cartoons
in Kolkata before the partition. He used the pseudonym ‘Bhimrul’as a cartoonist before
1947. He continued to do cartoons in the same name until the 70s. Then there was artist
Kazi Abul Kasem. This self-taught artist had made a place for himself as a cartoonist
in Kolkata before partition. The first political cartoon in this country came into being
as a result of the first major political happening after the partition- the Language
Movement. In 1952, Kazi Abul Kasem’s
cartoon ‘Movement to drive away letters’ was
published in the Bengali daily Sainik. The
cartoon showed the Urdu-speaking noblemen
rushing brandishing swords in a threatening
fig. 5.6 (top) manner towards the Bengali letters. Along
Upendrakishore with the letters, the Bengali people were also
Raychoudhuri, under attack by them (fig. 5.8). It may be
children’s book mentioned here that Kazi Abul Kasem did
illustration
cartoons using the pseudonym ‘Dopeaza’. He
was active as a cartoonist starting from the
fig. 5.7 (bottom)
Sukumar Ray, `Khuror pre-partition period to the 70s of the last
Kal’ from Abol Tabol century. Cartoons became widespread in