HM, SHAHRIYAR KABIR, Literary editor
National poet, rebel poet, poet of love, poet of betrayal, poet of equality, poet of humanity, poet of awakening Kazi Nazrul Islam’s 124th birth anniversary on 25 May 2023 AD. Every Thursday. He was born on 24 May 1899 in Churulia, Burdwan (Bengal Presidency, British India). Although Kazi Nazrul was born in India, he is a national poet as a Bangladeshi citizen. Even though he was born in undivided Bengal, he is the national poet of all literature lovers of Bengal beyond Bengal.
While working in a bread shop in Asansol in that unbroken Bengal, he spent his life in a lot of misery. At that time, Rafizullah, a police constable admitted him to a school in Darirampur, Trishal, Mymensingh. When Kazi Nazrul was working in a bread shop, Daroga Rafizullah brought the orphan boy to Harirampur in Trishal, Mymensingh and enrolled him in school and created a sculptor of talent. From childhood, Nazrul was a vocal, protesting voice against injustice. He also earned the title of rebel poet by writing rebellious poems. He was jailed for writing poems against the British in the anti-British movement. He jumped into the great liberation war and the armed struggle for independence. His writings were so feared by the British who ruled India that between 1922 and 1931 five of his books were banned by the state. His first banned book was “Yugbaan”. In 1922, the book was confiscated under Section 93 of the Criminal Code. Again on September 26, 1922, “Arrival of Anandamayi” published in “Dhumketu” newspaper edited by him was confiscated. Then the Indian British Raj arrested him and took him to jail. Then he wrote poems, songs, ghazals, rhymes in a protestant voice even after being imprisoned. He showed unparalleled bravery. Then on January 7, 1923, the statement he gave in the court of Chief Presidency Magistrate Swinburne became famous as “Rajbandi’s statement” in the history of Bengali literature. This royal prisoner has written numerous poems, songs, ghazals etc. on behalf of the exploited people. Every column of his poetry in establishing good governance and establishing a world of equality is still sitting in the state status and indelible. So he is known to everyone as a poet of equality, a poet of betrayal, a rebel poet, a poet of humanity, a poet of awakening, a poet of protest. In his poetry, he has brought out the ideas of strength, literary juice, literary power, courage, protestant, rebel, love, love, contemporary, contemporary. Even his life, love, betrayal, fiery speeches, literary works, poems are quoted and referred to. He was 22 when he wrote Jagran’s “rebellious” poem in a meeting in the last week of December 1921. Again this year marks the centenary of his “Agniveena”. In the education sector, he could not pass the secondary level academically. Who speaks of humanity, who speaks of love, who speaks of betrayal, who speaks of awakening, who speaks of religion, who speaks of country and ten, who speaks of society and nation is our national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Why did the poet Nazrul become a Muslim and marry a Hindu girl in the society of that time? This marriage creates buzz in the society and many questions have to be faced. Poet Nazrul answers and analyzes it in different ways. Again, when he taught singing to Ranusom of Tikatuli, the youth of the Hindu community came to chase Nazrul on the pretext of teaching singing to a Hindu girl as a Muslim boy. Some Maulana poets of that time gave a fatwa to Nazrul as an infidel. At that time, he showed unparalleled bravery and uttered with a voice of great courage, “Two yellow flowers in my same stalk, Hindu Muslim, Muslim is the gem of his eyes, Hindu is his life”. Not only that, his creative literary works ignited the minds of the then British rulers in India. After hundreds of sacrifices, the British in India realized that he was the rebel poet Kazi Nazrul. Poet Nazrul said, “Bury me near the mosque, brother, so that I can hear the sound of the muezzin’s adhan even from the ground.” Poet Nazrul was creative in 1942 before he lost his ability to speak due to illness. What he has given to Bengali literature and art during this time is an invaluable asset in Bangladesh and the world. Yes, he is a poet of love, a poet of betrayal, a poet of humanity, a poet of awakening, a poet of equality, a rebel poet, a protest poet and a national poet. So he is the bulbul of Bengali music, our national poet Kazi Nazrul. Humble respect to Dukhumia of Bengal today on his birth anniversary.