“Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February” – “My Brother’s Blood Spattered 21st February” – was originally penned as a poem by Abdul Gaffar Choudhury. Later, the renowned composer Abdul Latif set it to music, transforming it into a song. The melody was then beautifully reimagined and enriched by the martyred composer Altaf Mahmud. When Choudhury wrote the poem, he was just 17 years old, a student of Intermediate Arts at Dhaka College. On 22nd February, after being injured by police batons, he completed the poem while lying on a hospital bed.
Often referred to simply by its opening line, “Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano”, this iconic Bangla song is intrinsically linked with the Language Movement of 21st February 1952. It commemorates the students and civilians who laid down their lives in the struggle to preserve the right to speak the Bangla language. Abdul Gaffar Choudhury wrote the lyrics on the very day of the tragedy, and while it was first composed by Abdul Latif, it is Altaf Mahmud’s hauntingly beautiful composition, introduced during the 1954 morning procession (Prabhat Feri), that achieved lasting recognition. It has since become the song’s definitive version.
In 1969, the song featured in Zahir Raihan’s film Jibon Theke Neya (“Taken from Life”), and today, it has been translated and performed in over 12 languages, including Hindi, Malay, English, French, Swedish, and Japanese.
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Lyrics: “My Brother’s Blood Spattered 21st February”
My brother’s blood has dyed the twenty-first of February,
How could I ever forget?
This month, borne of the tears of hundreds of bereaved mothers,
How could I ever forget?
This February, soaked in the blood of my golden land,
How could I ever forget?
Rise, O serpents, rise, O storm winds,
Let the earth tremble in protest at the slaughter of children.
They murdered the golden sons of our soil to silence rightful demands—
Could you still cross over in such a time of crisis and change?
No, no, no—history itself will pass the final verdict,
On 21st February, the 21st of February.
That day, too, the sky wore a deep blue veil at winter’s end,
And the moon, sleepless and smiling, kissed the earth;
Rajonigandha and Alokananda blossomed along the paths—
But then came a wild, furious storm.
In that darkness, the beastly faces were revealed—
To them, the people’s hatred burns fierce: the mothers’, the sisters’, the brothers’.
They fired bullets into the soul of this land to crush its dreams.
Their vile boots trampled upon Bengal.
They are not of this land—
They’ve sold the nation’s fate for profit.
They snatched away food, clothing, and peace from the people.
The 21st of February—yes, the 21st of February.
You must rise today—
Rise, 21st February!
Even now, the brave sons and daughters of the land die in the dungeons of tyrants.
The souls of my martyred brothers call out,
And the slumbering strength of the people stirs—
In lanes and alleys, in fields and ferries.
Let us ignite the fire of righteous fury on this day—
The 21st of February, the 21st of February.
About Composer Altaf Mahmud:
Altaf Mahmud began his musical training under the celebrated violinist Suren Roy. He soon entered the world of protest music. On the first midnight of Pakistan’s birth on 14th August 1947, Mahmud performed at the Pakistan Declaration Ceremony. Two years later, in a rally of farmers at Ashwini Kumar Town Hall in Barisal, he sang the now-iconic Gananatya song “Main Bhookha Hoon” (“I Am Hungry”).
Mahmud moved to Dhaka in 1950 and joined the Dhumketu Shilpi Shangha. His journey as a composer began with “Mrityuke Jara Tuchcho Korilo Bhasha Banchabar Tore” (“They Who Defied Death to Save the Language”), penned by Mosharraf Uddin. But it was his composition of “Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February” in 1953, written by Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, that granted him immortality as a composer—although he was the second to set the poem to music, after Abdul Latif.
His first notable work as a music director was for a dance-drama titled “Kishaner Kahini” and “Majdur”, produced by the East Pakistan Artists’ Union for the Comilla Literature and Culture Conference. During the United Front elections the following year, two of his protest songs gained immense popularity, resulting in warrants issued against him. These songs were “Montri Howa Ki Mukher Kotha” (“Is Becoming a Minister So Easy?”) and “Mora Ki Dukkhe Banchia Rabo” (“Shall We Live in Misery Forever?”). Eventually, Mahmud went on to establish the Pakistan Gananatya Sangha.
His first recorded album was released in 1958 in Karachi, where he was forced to stay after his passport was revoked en route to Austria. Later, in 1965, he became a disciple of the illustrious Debu Bhattacharya and received classical training under Ustad Kader Khan. His debut in film music came with Nazrul Islam’s film “Kar Bou”, followed by Zahir Raihan’s renowned film “Behula” in the same year. He also married that year, thanks to the intervention of the poet Sufia Kamal. In 1969, Altaf Mahmud joined the streets with fellow artists during the mass uprising, always using music as his weapon.
Altaf Mahmud was an artist of the people. In every mass movement, he stood shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed, carrying his harmonium across towns, ports, and streets. From the farmer’s rally in Barisal at the age of sixteen to the stirring songs of “Ekushey”, “Montri Howa Ki Mukher Kotha”, and “E Jhonjha Mora Rukhbo” after the 1970 cyclone—he reached deep into the hearts of the masses. His ultimate sacrifice came during the Liberation War.
Mahmud’s home at 370 Outer Circular Road became a covert base for freedom fighters. At the onset of the war, he joined the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, composing numerous patriotic songs that were broadcast to inspire the nation. He also raised funds and stored weapons for the fighters.
On the morning of 30th August, the Pakistani military raided his home and arrested Altaf Mahmud, along with Abul Barak Alvi and four of his brothers-in-law: Linu Billah, Dinu Billah, Nuhe Alam Billah, and Khairul Alam Billah. They were taken to the military torture cell near the Drum Factory adjacent to the MP Hostel in Tejgaon, Nakhhalpara, where they were brutally tortured. When brought before a military tribunal, Mahmud remained calm and composed. Knowing his fate, he declared, “Of all who were captured with me, only I knew of the arms. The rest are innocent.” In doing so, he gave his life to save them.
About Lyricist Abdul Gaffar Choudhury:
Abdul Gaffar Choudhury was a prominent Bangladeshi author and columnist. He is most renowned as the lyricist of the historic song commemorating the Language Movement — “Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano Ekushey February.” He also played a crucial role in the Liberation War of Bangladesh as the founder and editor of Saptahik Joy Bangla, the first registered weekly newspaper of free Bangladesh under the Mujibnagar Government.
For his significant contributions to literature and journalism, Choudhury received numerous accolades. He was honoured with the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1967, the prestigious Ekushey Padak in 1983, and in 2009, he received the Swadhinata Padak — the highest civilian award of Bangladesh. His literary and journalistic career spanned across continents, as he later settled in the United Kingdom where he continued to write passionately on Bengali politics, society, and history until his passing.
Through his words and unwavering dedication to truth and justice, Abdul Gaffar Choudhury became a cultural icon and a voice of conscience for the Bengali people. His timeless lyric, written in the aftermath of brutal state repression, continues to inspire generations to remember the martyrs of 21st February 1952 — a date now immortalised as International Mother Language Day.