Dhaka salutes Ravi Shankar, George Harrison
The Liberation War Museum here has installed a bronze plaque to commemorate the composition and rendering by Ravi Shankar and late Beatles singer George Harrison for the song "Bangladesh".
The Liberation War Museum here has installed a bronze plaque to commemorate the composition and rendering by Ravi Shankar and late Beatles singer George Harrison for the song "Bangladesh".
In 1971, Harrison's "Bangladesh" was a clarion call for the world community to stand by the millions of Bengalis who had been displaced by the Pakistan regime.
Harrison joined hands with his friend Ravi Shankar to assemble legends like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell and Billy Preston to play for the cause of Bangladesh.
Over 40,000 people had gathered at New York's Madison Square Garden Aug 1, 1971 for the first of its kind benefit concert that raised $ 243,418.51 for relief funds that Unicef administered for the Bengali refugees who had fled to India.
Harrison, who shot to fame in the 1960s as lead guitarist of the legendary British rock quartet Beatles, was a friend of Bangladesh.
The plaque, donated by Harrison fan and British singer Danis Theophilus, was received here Tuesday at the museum by Ajit Roy and Shaheen Samad, the pioneers of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra.
"It is more than a song. It is testimony to a great soul empathising with a nation fighting for independence," The Daily Star said.