আবদুল্লাহ আল-মামুনের নাটকে নৈরাজ্য ও অবক্ষয়/ Despair and Decay in the Plays of Abdullah Al-Mamun

Abstract

Abdullah Al-Mamun is one of the most prominent Bangladeshi playwrights who have gained popularity after the victory of the freedom war. In his works, He depicts the confusion and moral degradation that followed the war with extraordinary brilliance. The research aims to identify how the playwright depicts the political, social, economic and cultural reality of post-independence Bangladesh through his plays. Instead of humanism, justice, equality and non-communalism which the people of Bangladesh had achieved through the victory of the liberation war, widespread corruption, abuse of power, economic inequality, unemployment, political impotence, military government, fundamentalism and revival of Razakars led to frustration and decay. Abdullah Al-Mamun gave dramatic form to this crisis-ridden reality, portraying society's moral collapse in a multidimensional way. Analysis of the plays Subachan Nirbashane, Ekhon Dukshomoy, Ebar Dhora Dao, Senapati, Aynay Bandhur Mukh, Ekhono Kritodas, Tomrai, Tritiyo Purush, Kokilara, Ujan Pabon, Sparddha, Mike Master, Meraj Fokirer Ma and Meherjaan Arekbar reveals that the playwright placed the erosion of values, class disparity, capitalist exploitation, the directionlessness of youth, the devaluation of freedom fighters, the oppression of women, the misuse of religion and cultural crisis at the center of his dramatic thought within the social reality of post-independence Bangladesh. His characters do not represent merely individual crises; rather, they become symbols of the despair, deprivation, resentment and existential crisis of the entire nation. At the same time, the playwright identifies economic inequality, the centralization of power and the absence of social justice as among the primary causes of moral decay. Abdullah Al-Mamun’s plays are not only a reflection of the present reality but also a true depiction of the historical events, social and political life in post-independence Bangladesh, loss of human values and decline of the nation’s conscious. In his dramatic world, the portrayal of despair and decay stands established primarily as a critical commentary on the deviation from the ideals of independence and the ever-increasing inequality between the state and society.