Nazrul, Rabindranath still belong to two Banglas, says Hasina
Prime minister Sheikh Hasinaon on Saturday said that Bangladesh was being built imbued with the non‑communal spirit of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, reports UNB.
‘Nazrul was motivated by non-communal spirit. So, we’re building Bangladesh with this non-communal spirit. Non-communal spirit is reflected in our principle and ideology where people, irrespective of their race and religion, will enjoy equal rights,’ she said.
‘So, we hope you’ll work with the same (non-communal) spirit,’ she said pointing at fresh graduates at a special convocation ceremony of Kazi Nazrul University.
Sheikh Hasina was addressing the function after receiving Doctor of Literature degree from the university at Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district.
The KNU authorities conferred the honorary DLitt degree upon Hasina in recognition of her outstanding contributions towards building exploitation and disparity-free society, which was the ideal of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Hasina said that non-communalism and humanity were reflected in verses and works of Kazi Narul Islam, known as the Rebel Poet.
‘I would like to request you to put humanity above everything in every sphere of life, not only in workplaces,’ she told the fresh graduates.
The prime minister said that, though the Bangla was divided, but the two great poets — Nazrul and Rabindranath — were not divided. ‘They belong to the two Banglas (Bangladesh and West Bengal).’
She said that Nazrul’s spirit would remain as a source of inspiration for people to work for the welfare of human beings for ages.
Talking about this region, Hasina said, ‘In case of all development plans, we are not thinking for only Bangladesh but rather this subcontinent. We want to make this subcontinent a developed and prosperous one freeing it from poverty and hunger.’
‘We’ve already solved many problems. But we’ll have to think mostly for the welfare of people, rather than the problems,’ she added.
About Rohingyas, the prime minister said that Bangladesh had provided shelter to 1.1 million Rohingyas on humanitarian ground. ‘We want a quick solution to the crisis. We want that our young generation will be protected from clash, conflict, terrorism, extremism and drugs.’
Expressing her heartfelt thanks to the university authorities for conferring this honorary degree, she dedicated the honour to the people of Bangladesh and all Bangalis.
She showed her deep respect to the memories of Bangladesh’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam on the occasion of his 119th birth anniversary.
The prime minister said that there were many resemblances between the characters of poet Nazrul Islam and Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. ‘One person was a poet of literature while another was a political poet.’
She said that, although Nazrul was born in India, he was the national poet of Bangladesh. His poems were the sources of inspiration during the Liberation War of 1971.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman brought poet Nazrul to Dhaka after the liberation war. Mujib also awarded citizenship to the great poet and declared him the national poet of Bangladesh.
Though Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in Churulia, the poet travelled the entire Bangla. He spent his time with people in many places in Bangladesh.
West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee also spoke on the occasion, while vice-chancellor of Kazi Nazrul University Sadhan Chakrabarti delivered the welcome speech.
Sheikh Hasina arrived in India on Friday on a two-day official visit at the invitation of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
On Friday, Hasina along with Narendra Modi unveiled the plaque of Bangladesh Bhaban at Visva Bharati in Santiniketan.
