Poetry in Bangladesh has been given a thumbs up by the Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs Abul Kalam Azad. Over the weekend, he attended an International Poetry Festival and Conference in the Bangladeshi capital city of Dhaka. Held inside the Sufia Kamal Auditorium, the minister told assembled guests:
“Poetry also nurture the spirit of non-communalism, show the path of dreams and consolidate brotherhood and empathy among the people,”
A nationally known scholar Professor Kabir Chowdhury was on hand to inaugurate the conference and festival along with the poet Somresh Devnath, who was in the chair.
Abul Kalam Azad made particular note of Bangla poetry which is the name for poems written by natives of Bangladesh. He went on to say proudly:
“The standard of Bangla poetry equals with the poems of other languages in the world literature as our poets have made the best use of their talent in giving them creative forms,”
The minister also mentioned how poetry had played an important role during the War of Liberation, when West Pakistan fought East Pakistan, resulting in the founding of Bangladesh in 1971.
“Poems of Tagore, Nazrul, Sukanto and Shamsur Rahman, infused revolutionary spirit into the minds of our brave brothers in the war field and the freedom-loving people to drive away the heinous Pakistani occupation forces from our soil in 1971,” said Azad.
An important figure in Bangladeshi history was then remembered. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of the country and the ‘Father of the Nation’, who went on to become both President and Prime Minister before his assassination in 1975. His importance to the Bangladeshi people is shown by the title he was given, namely that of Bangabandhu which translates as “friend of Bengal”.
Azad said: “The poets as the voice of conscience came forward to protest the brutal killing of Bangabandhu and composition of innumerable poems by them to commemorate this great emancipator is rare in the world history,”
Professor Kabir Chowdhury later expressed hope that poetry can play an important role in fighting extremism and terrorism in Bangladesh.
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