Nazrul: The Call for Sportsmanship

Mohammad Omar Farooq
May 2006

In addition to being known as the Rebel Poet, Nazrul is also known as “Abhimani” poet. Translated into English, the word sometimes refers to “pique”, a transient feeling of wounded vanity”.  Regardless, the Bangla word may not have an English literary equivalent. In one of his songs Nazrul pleaded: “Instead of me, please love my song” (amay nohe go, bhalobasho mor gaan). In my humble estimate, it might have had roots in his abhimani mind.

As affirmed by his statement, Nazrul believed his biggest literary/artistic contribution was in music. In “Kazi Nazrul Islam and his music,” Amirul Islam Sharqi quotes Nazrul: “I feel sad that people know me as merely a poet. However, I haven’t endeavored too hard in the field of poetry. The artistic field for which I have devoted my life, either people know so little about it or they are ignorant. That artistic field is music.” [Shoto Kothay Nazrul; p379] Clearly, his invitation to love his music is understandable. However, Nazrul may not have desired that others love his music without regard to his person: his thoughts, values, and vision.

Nazrul devotees and enthusiasts often seem focused on his artistic and literary works. Hence it is heartening to note there is also a sustained, and even increasing, interest in the poet himself, especially in Bangladesh, where he is regarded as the national poet. However, it might be great injustice to him and even more so to ourselves, if we didn’t appreciate him from a broader perspective.

As individuals and also collectively as a nation, we have much to learn and benefit from Nazrul.  Much of his thoughts lay buried in his essays, speeches and letters. While almost all Bangalis may know of him, very few are familiar with Nazrul beyond a handful of his popular works, such as Sanchita, and his songs. One must study his complete works to know his thoughts better.  My observations reveal that even Nazrul enthusiasts are but inadequately familiar with his personal philosophy. Besides his poetic and artistic works did Nazrul offer any substantive and meaningful ideas, which could help guide us to address some practical challenges? I intend to highlight one such aspect of Nazrul’s thoughts and visions in this essay.

If one should compare statesmanship versus sportsmanship, it might be reasonable to suggest that in Bangladesh we are doing better in the arena of sports. Pursuit of freedom from “dushshashon” (tyranny or bad governance), which inspired us to alter our destiny from being subservient to the British empire and then to Pakistan, is yet to materialize in consonance with what Nazrul desired for all, including the Bangalis.

Nazrul hoped for statesmanship in our leaders, but he also suspected it might not develop anytime soon. He did not have high regard for the leaders of his time. During a speech on December 23, 1940 at the Calcutta Muslim Students’ conference held at Calcutta Muslim Institute Hall, he observed:

There are many independent countries in which such outrage and violence of the power-hungry ones have happened - in India too, the discriminatory injustice of these power-hungry ones continues. Those whose vision does not go beyond the wall, at the signal of these blind ones are marching so many people. These leaders have no strength, but have enormous crookedness; they don't have youth, but they have a cunning way of bringing out victory processions riding on the shoulders of the youth. [Nazrul Rochonaboli, Vol. 4, 1996, pp. 116-122]

The British finally left and the subcontinent became sovereign. Yet the tyranny or bad governance did not disappear. The experience of Pakistan became another tragedy. Worse, East Bengal, which became East Pakistan, had to seek freedom once more from the Pakistani ‘dushshashon’.  It earned it with the lives of millions, as part of the genocide committed by the Pakistani army in 1971.

Indeed each time we pursued independence we did attain it, but the ghost of ‘dushshashon’ did not disappear.  The rebellion of Nazrul was against this ‘dushshashon” by anyone over any people. Nazrul’s revulsion against ‘dushshashon’ was such that he wanted to drink the blood of “dushshashon”. He wrote a most aggressive and animated poem “Dushshashoner Rokto Paan.” [Drinking the blood of tyranny; Nazrul Rochonaboli, Vol. 4, pp.151-154]. Dushshashon is alive and well in Bangladesh. As if to outdo itself the country has earned the label as the number one corrupt country in the world, where reward from and dignity of labor remains forever fleeting. Life, property and honor of the majority are still unprotected. Corruption, contributing significantly to a widening gap between the rich and the poor, is commonplace. Intolerance and extremism are on the rise.

Nazrul is the national poet of that country. What an irony!  All the Nazrul praxis in the artistic and literary arena, which deserves appreciation and acknowledgment, cannot hide the reality that Nazrul’s dream and vision still remains elusive. This is particularly so due to lack of statesmanship. It is just as true in our domestic arena as it is true in our regional situation, involving neighboring South Asian countries. This reality has a global dimension as well.

In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke wrote: “A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would by my standard of a statesman.” Burke did not mean disposition to preserve and ability to improve the power and position of merely an individual, party or group. He meant preserving and improving the lot of the people to be lead by such statesmen.  Leaders and politicians of Bangladesh as well as its neighbors have often disappointed their people by their lack of statesmanship.

Given that expectation for statesmanship which universally affirms and promotes the dignity of human beings has been low, what might be the relevance of sportsmanship?

Well, it is commonly believed that politics is but a game. Unfortunately in this game there seems to be no sportsmanship. Why sportsmanship?

Consider the case of Bangladesh. The country is doing better in the arena of sports than in politics. In cricket or hockey, the country is showing noticeable performance as well as great potential. In the arena of politics, however, the country seems to regress. An important difference between sports and politics is that, while sports is subject to rules and codes and the athletes adapt to those well, in politics, despite constitution and laws, lack of law and ethics is transparent.

Grantland Rice wrote:
For when the one great scorer comes
To write against your name,
He writes not that you won or lost,
But how you played the game.

Sadly by evidence, our leaders and politicians are neither interested in the rules of the game nor how it is played, but only in grabbing---and holding---power by any means, either over their own people or over their weaker regional neighbors.        

Evidently the role of leaders and politicians does not lend enough learning curve for people but, maybe, they could be inspired by athletes. In many countries there are sports associations or organizations promoting sportsmanship. For example, Citizenship Through Sports Alliance is an organization based in Kansas, USA that “promotes fair play at all levels ... to reinforce the value of sport as a test of character. ... CTSA has been building a sports culture that encourages respect for self, respect for others, and respect for the game.”

Don’t we wish to see it in politics in general, and in our leaders and politicians in particular?

One such sports organization articulates sportsmanship as: “Good sportsmanship is viewed ... as a commitment to fair play, ethical behavior and integrity. In perception and practice, sportsmanship is defined as those qualities which are characterized by generosity and genuine concern for others:  (a) Play fair, take loss or defeat without complaint, or victory without gloating; (b) Treat others as you wish to be treated; (c) Respect others and one's self; (d) Impose self-control, be courteous, and gracefully accept results of one's actions; (e) Display ethical behavior by being good (character) and doing right (action); (f) Be a good citizen.”

Wow! Playing fair? Treat others as you wish to be treated?  But doesn’t our politics-- domestic, regional or international—expose quite the opposite in practice? While we expect our leaders and politicians to inculcate these values in people through their statesmanship, when they do not, our athletes can play a great role through their sportsmanship. If politics is a game, our politicians should watch their favorite games, or any game—for that matter, and learn what sportsmanship means. Better yet, our politicians and leaders should actually play some team sports to learn and appreciate how to deal with winning and losing.

Nazrul understood and appreciated this matter quite correctly and adequately in regards to British colonialism, which deliberately and effectively kept the colony divided and often engaged in destructive conflict. Notably, Nazrul was the first to call for complete, unconditional independence of the subcontinent. He knew the relevance of sportsmanship in context, both from history and his personal experience.

Incidentally, Nazrul much enjoyed chess, a game of elaborate rules and strategies. In 1925 Nazrul entered an All India Chess Competition, in which Dr. Kazi Motahar Hossain was also a contestant. Even though he was not a consummate chess player, he used to take it very seriously by reading books about chess and great chess players. Along with Dr. Hossain he often used to visit the great novelist Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, playing chess late into the night. Occasionally, playing chess made him miss trains to scheduled events.

His appreciation for sportsmanship was not only conceptual. In an article “Sport-lover Nazrul Islam,” [“Krirapremi Nazrul Islam] Nazrul researcher Shahabuddin Ahmad talks about Nazrul’s passion for soccer. Apparently, he attended soccer games often. But was he yet another spectator in attendance? Well, that couldn’t be Nazrul. 

Nazrul’s protest against injustice or wrong carried over into sports as well. In Calcutta, while Mohanbagan team was most popular, support also existed for weaker teams like Aryans. The referee, usually a Caucasian (a British gentleman, to be specific), routinely made unfair calls against weaker teams. Nazrul could not accept a series of blatantly unfair calls at one such game.  He confronted the Caucasian referee, which prompted many other sports fan to get involved in the protest. 

Sports has been an important, recurring theme in Nazrul’s poetry. In the poem “The game is in full swing” [“Jor jomiyachhe khela”], he wrote:

The game is in full swing,
Suddenly at Calcutta field one evening ...
Gathered in the field, crowd of people big and small,
Natives/foreigners, greedy/unselfish, and all kinds of screwball.
On one side is the ‘raji’ (contented) and on the other is ‘naraji’ (discontented) team,
While football – the independence of India – is lying at the center, agleam.
[Nazrul Rochonaboli, Vol. 3, pp.346-348]

The image is a good metaphor for the struggle and discord in India’s independence movement. Nazrul’s masterful presentation played out through a game of soccer may distract some, but he drives home the point that players and fans often are inordinately focused on who won or lost, but not enough on how the game was played and the real spirit or goal of sports. Of course, the drive to win is the essence of competition, and political struggle is not merely a game based on sportsmanship. However, to know when to be a rebel and pull the hair of a referee, or drink the blood of ‘dushshashon,’ or when to move on in life with the spirit of sportsmanship, especially when fighting injustice and dushshashon, is one of the most important challenges of life.

What Nazrul articulated in this context in 1929 is still as relevant as ever.

. . . The fact that India is colonized today and the march toward its independence still has not begun - what we see only is the drum of preparation and breaking of pots - is primarily because of our mutual hatred and prejudice between Hindus and Muslims. We, the Muslims, feel jealous about the progress of our neighbor Hindus, while the Hindus look down upon us due to our backwardness.

. . . The biggest tragedy of our national life today is that those who live the closest to us, we know them the least. Due to the grace of the English, we know all the languages from English, Greek, Latin, Hebrew to French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chech, Scandinavian, Chinese, Japanese, Honolulu, Greenwich - we also know their history and we make an effort to learn about their civilization, but we don't, nor do we care, to know about the neighbor's home that is adjacent to ours. Indeed, we even pride in our ignorance in this matter. May be this is an example, of "Penny wise, pound foolish".

. . . If you can, wherever possible, establish centers for translating and pursuing in mother tongue your literature, knowledge, science, history, civilization, etc. In absence of that, please stop your screaming about religion or Islam.

This is the way the disrespect of our "next door neighbor" toward us can be removed, which will facilitate the march toward our independence. The intoxicating communalism will also come to an end that day, when Hindus and Muslims can embrace each other with full respect. The competition that will ensue will be "cultured" minds' "chivalrous competition" - sportsmanlike competition.

[These excerpts are from Nazrul's address "The practice of Muslim Culture" in 1929 on the occasion of the founding of Chottogram Education Society. Source: Nazrul Rochonaboli, Vol. 4, pp. 101-106, 1996].

U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren (d. 1974) advised: “Always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures.”

How true! Our youth often are naturally drawn to the sports pages. Hopefully, turning to the sports pages first would give us some positive and constructive insight and inspiration to acquire sportsmanship, so that maybe someday we will also have the desired statesmanship to return to the front-page challenges, and make this world a better place for all.

Nazrul wished that people everywhere be imbued with the spirit of competition, not conflict; mutual respect, not hatred or prejudice. He wanted to see “sportsmanlike competition.” What he wished to see between Hindus and Muslims can apply to the political parties in Bangladesh, or, in a larger sense, to the regional conflicts in South Asia.

One wonders what Bangladesh would have been like in three decades after its independence, if its major political parties had embraced Nazrul’s call for sportsmanship. The same is true in the context of South Asia. Conflicts have led to potential nuclear confrontations between the neighbors: India and Pakistan; border issues between India and Bangladesh have also been recurrent. Yet it seems likely that South Asia could have been a powerhouse of development, positively touching and elevating the lives of its people, had the region appreciated and embraced Nazrul’s message

[The author is an associate professor of economics and finance at Upper Iowa University, USA and the developer/webmaster of the only dedicated website on the Rebel Poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam Page, http://www.nazrul.org. All excerpts of Nazrul were translated by the essayist.]

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