People from all walks of life paid their last respects to Independence Award and Ekushey Padak-winning theatre exponent Ataur Rahman at a mourning ceremony held at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Ataur Rahman died at a hospital in Dhaka late Monday night, at the age of 84.
The programme was organised by the Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation to pay tribute to its founding member and former president, Ataur Rahman.
Ataur Rahman’s body was taken to the Central Shaheed Minar at about 3:25pm where different socio-cultural organisations, institutions, and individuals placed wreaths on his coffin.
Cultural organisations including Chhayanaut, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi, Bangladesh Ganasangeet Samannay Parishad, and theatre troupes Prachyanat, BotTala, Nagorik Natya Sampradaya, Nagorik Natyangan Ensemble, Dhaka Theatre, Bangladesh Gram Theatre, Natyam Repertory, Dhaka Theatre Moncha, Desh Natok, Dhaka University’s theatre and performance studies department, and its dance department, Jagannath University’s theatre department, Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammelan Parishad, Mahila Samity, Naripakha, Abdullah Al-Mamun Theatre School, Actors Equity, Directors Guild, International Theatre Institute Bangladesh, and others paid tribute to Ataur Rahman by placing flower wreaths on his coffin.
Besides, cultural activists Mofidul Haque and Shankar Shawjal, alongside actor-director Ashish Khandakar, among others, paid their last respects to Ataur Rahman.
Thespian Ramendu Majumdar said at the event that Ataur Rahman was at the forefront as an organiser and actor-director in the theatre arena after the independence war of Bangladesh.
‘With Nasiruddin Yousuff, Mamunur Rashid, and Ataur Rahman—we were moving together,’ he said, adding that the bond between the four of them was now severed.
Sharmistha Rahman, daughter of Ataur, said that her father was lonely and had missed the theatre over the past few months.
‘He was depressed that his friends did not communicate with him,’ she said, urging people to focus on friendship and maintain communication with each other.
From the BGTF, Nasiruddin Yousuff, Lucky Enam, and Khandakar Shah Alam, among others, spoke at the event, which was moderated by Tapan Hafiz.
Later, he was buried at the Banani graveyard in the evening.
Born on June 18, 1941, at his maternal grandfather’s house in Noakhali, Ataur Rahman spent his early life there.
He directed a number of notable plays, including Hamlet, Macbeth, Troilus and Cressida, Narigon, Banglar Maati Banglar Jal, Galileo and Tora Shob Joyodhani Kor.
Ataur Rahman is survived by his wife, son, and daughter. He received the Ekushey Padak in 2001 and the Independence Award in 2021 for his contribution to theatre.
