When the poem was submitted for publication in the Daily Pakistan, literary editor Ahsan Habib refused to publish it, deeming it anti-state.
Subsequently, Ahmed Sofa and Humayun Kabir wrote the first two lines of the poem on papers and pasted them on the walls around the University of Dhaka.
[2][3] Later, along with Ahmed Sofa and Humayun Kabir, Helal Hafiz took the poem to Ahsan Habib, the literary editor of the Daily Pakistan, for publication.
However, after reading the poem, the editor refused to publish it, fearing that it would be deemed anti-state, potentially leading to loss of his job and even the newspaper’s shutdown.
After failing to get the poem published in the newspaper, Sofa and Kabir wrote the first two lines on papers and pasted them on the walls of the university area.
"[7] Mohammad Ali argues that in this poem, Helal Hafiz portrays a lover who sacrifices his youth for patriotism, treating the enemy of the nation as his adversary who have to be killed.
[10] In 2015, under the initiative of Sabed Sathi, the poem was adapted into a song featuring North America-based singer Kaushali Ima, accompanied by a music video.
[12] In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Mashrafe Mortaza, then-captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team, adapted the poem’s first two lines to encourage people to stay home.