by Today is the death anniversary of the national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam. Known as a rebel poet, Nazrul was a symbol of the non-communal spirit of Bengali literature. Even after so many years of his death, poet Nazrul Islam remains forever remembered by generations after generations as the most powerful protest voice against exploitation and oppression.
He was not only a poet, but also a musician, playwright and philosopher. His non-communal words, writings against exploitation and deprivation continue to serve as a source of inspiration even today.
Nazrul breathed his last on this day in 1976 in Dhaka after a long illness. He was buried with state honors next to the Central Mosque of Dhaka University.
Nazrul has always been on the side of the exploited, keeping the spark of rebellion burning among the new generation throughout the ages.
Latiful Islam Shibli, Executive Director of the Poet Nazrul Institute, said that the freedom fighters were so inspired by the poet’s songs on the battlefield that they would stand in front of the radio and salute whenever the song was played on the radio. Then, in the mass uprising of 24, Nazrul returned in a new form.
Although it took 54 years for the official gazette of the national poet to be published, the Poet Nazrul Islam Institute is taking various initiatives to spread Nazrul Islam worldwide. Efforts are being made to find the lost songbook of Nazrul Islam.
Latiful Islam Shibli, Executive Director of the Poet Nazrul Institute, said, “Quiteness of Nazrul – A book has been created in a concise form from the poet’s entire literary corpus. The book is more than a thousand pages. When the book is published, I hope that Nazrul can be translated into other languages of the world.
Nazrul is a bright superstar in his own right, yet there is no alternative to government initiatives to encourage him in his practice and upbringing.
Birth name of the national poet of Bangladesh, Nazrul Islam:
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on 24 May 1899 (Jyaishta 11, 1306 Bengali) in a Bengali Muslim family in Churulia village of Asansol subdivision of Burdwan district of West Bengal, India. Churulia village is located in Jamuria block of Asansol subdivision. Kazi Nazrul Islam was the sixth child of Zaheda Khatun, the second wife of Kazi Fakir Ahmed, son of his paternal grandfather Kazi Amin Ullah. His father Fakir Ahmed was the imam of the local mosque and the keeper of the tomb. Kazi Ali Hossain was the youngest of Nazrul’s three brothers and the eldest of his two sisters, Kazi Sahebjan and Umm Kulsum. Kazi Nazrul Islam’s nickname was “Dukhu Mia”. Nazrul worked as a muezzin in the local mosque of the village. He began studying the Quran, Islam, philosophy and Islamic theology in a maktab (a religious school for Muslims run by a mosque).
He was only nine years old when his father died in 1908. After his father’s death, his education was interrupted due to family hardship and he had to start working at the age of ten to earn a living. At that time, the poet Nazrul Islam passed the lower secondary examination from the maktab and started teaching in the same maktab. At the same time, he started working as a servant at the grave of Haji Palawan and as a muezzin (caller of the call to prayer) in the mosque. Through all these jobs, he got the opportunity to become closely acquainted with the basic rituals of Islam at a young age, which later greatly influenced his literary work. It can be said that he was the one who started the practice of Islamic consciousness in Bengali literature.
Nazrul did not stay long in the work of maktabs, mosques and shrines. At an early age, he became interested in folk art and joined a Leto (a traveling theater troupe that combines poetry, song, and dance from the Rādh region of Bengal). His uncle, Kazi Bajle Karim, was a prominent master of the Leto troupe of the Churulia region and was proficient in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu.
In addition, Bajle Karim composed songs in mixed languages. It is believed that Nazrul joined the Leto troupe under the influence of Bajle Karim. In addition, Nazrul regularly participated in the Leto and Kavigan sessions of the popular Leto poets of the region, Sheikh Chakor (Goda poet) and Kabiya Basudev. It was in the Leto troupe that he began his literary career. He traveled to various places with this troupe, learned acting from them, and wrote songs and poems for their plays. In the light of his own work and experience, he began studying Bengali and Sanskrit literature. At the same time, he continued to study Hindu religious scriptures, i.e. the Puranas. At that young age, he composed several folk songs for his theatre group. These include Chashar Sang, Shakunibadh, Raja Yudhishthira’s Sang, Data Karna, Akbar Badshah, Kavi Kalidas, Vidyabhutum and Rajputer Gaan. On the one hand, the mosque, shrine and maktab life, on the other hand, the diverse experiences of the Leto group provided many elements of Nazrul’s literary life. Nazrul wrote a lot of Shyama Sangeet about Kalidevi, Nazrul mentioned in his last speech – “Some say my words are Javan, some say Kafir. I say neither. I have only tried to get Hindus and Muslims to shake hands in one place, and to turn abuse into slander.”
He had to go back to work. First he joined Basudev’s Kavidale. Then he worked as a cook for a Christian railway guard and finally as a bread maker in a tea-bread shop in Asansol. Thus his childhood passed amidst much hardship. While working in this shop, he met Asansol’s Daroga Rafizullah. Rafizullah recognized his talent after seeing the poems and rhymes that Nazrul used to compose sitting alone in the shop. He admitted Nazrul to the seventh grade at Darirampur School in Trishal, Mymensingh district in 1914. 1915 In 1917, he returned to Searsol Raj School in Raniganj and started his studies there from the eighth grade. He studied here until 1917. At the end of 1917, he joined the army as a soldier without taking the pre-test examination for secondary school. While studying in this school, Nazrul was influenced by four teachers here.
In 1910, Nazrul left the Leto group and returned to student life. The proof that everyone in the Leto group was impressed by his talent is the song written by other students about him after Nazrul left Leto: “Amra ai adhiin, hachi ustadhin / bhabi tay nishidin, bishad mone / namate Nazrul Islam, ki dib guner raag”, his first school in this new student life was Searsol Raj School in Raniganj, then he was admitted to Mathrun High English School, which later became known as Nabeen Chandra Institution. The then headmaster of Mathrun School was Kumudranjan Mallick, who was also known as a famous poet of that time. His proximity was a source of inspiration for Nazrul.
Death of the National Poet of Bangladesh:
In 1971, Bangladesh became an independent state through the Bangladesh Liberation War. On May 24, 1972, with the permission of the Government of India, the national poet Nazrul Islam was brought to Bangladesh with his family. The then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, took special initiatives in this regard. The poet spent the rest of his life in Bangladesh. In 1976, a government order was issued to grant Nazrul citizenship of independent Bangladesh.
After that, despite adequate treatment, Nazrul’s health did not improve significantly. In 1974, the poet’s youngest son and famous guitarist Kazi Aniruddha died. In 1976, Nazrul’s health also began to deteriorate. He spent the last days of his life in the PG Hospital in Dhaka. He died on 29 August 1976. Nazrul wrote in one of his songs, “Bury me next to the mosque, brother / so that I can hear the call to prayer from the grave.” Considering the poet’s wish, it was decided to bury the poet next to the Dhaka University Central Mosque and his tomb was built accordingly. However, Pramila Devi’s last wish was that her husband be buried next to her grave (in Nazrul’s ancestral home in Churulia). But Pramila’s last wish was not fulfilled.
More than 10,000 people attended his funeral prayers. After the funeral prayers, President Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, Major General Ziaur Rahman, Real Admiral MH Khan, Air Vice Marshal AG Mahmud, Major General Dastagir carried Nazrul’s body draped in the national flag from Suhrawardy Maidan to the University Mosque premises. A two-day national mourning day was observed in Bangladesh on the occasion of his death, and a minute’s silence was observed in the Indian legislature in honor of the poet.
