Finally, Kazi Nazrul Islam has received state recognition as the national poet of Bangladesh. A gazette notification has been published declaring him the ‘national poet’ of Bangladesh since his arrival in Bangladesh on May 4, 1972.
A gazette notification signed by Md. Ataur Rahman, Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, on the orders of the President, states that poet Kazi Nazrul Islam has been declared the national poet of Bangladesh as per the proposal approved in a meeting of the Advisory Council last December and it has been published in the form of a gazette for the information of all.
The proposal to publish a gazette notification declaring poet Kazi Nazrul Islam as the national poet was approved in the meeting of the Advisory Council held on December 5.
The status of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam as the national poet is already an established fact and is also recognized at the state level. The people of Bangladesh have been expecting a government notification declaring him the national poet since the date of his arrival in Dhaka. The Advisory Council approved this proposal in accordance with this expectation.
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was brought to Dhaka from Kolkata with his family on May 24, 1972, on a government initiative, and a house on No. 28 (Old) Road, Dhanmondi, was allotted for his residence. Then, in January 1976, the Bangladesh government granted the poet Bangladeshi citizenship. On February 21 of the same year, he was awarded the Ekushey Padak. The Ekushey Padak is considered the second civilian honorary medal of Bangladesh.
Proposal to publish Kazi Nazrul in the gazette as the ‘National Poet’ approved
In 1974, the Dhaka University authorities decided to confer the honorary D.Litt degree on Kazi Nazrul Islam along with other individuals in recognition of his special contribution to Bengali literature and culture. The decision to confer this title was taken at a convocation ceremony at the University’s Student-Teachers’ Auditorium (TSC) on December 9 of that year. Nazrul could not be brought to the ceremony due to illness. Later, on 25 January 1975, at a special ceremony at Bangabhaban, the Chancellor of Dhaka University conferred the title of D. Litt on the then President Mohammadullah Nazrul. Professor Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University, also read a letter of commendation to Nazrul.
The poet Nazrul passed away 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 of the muezzin even from the grave’. Respecting this wish, the poet was buried with full state honours next to the Dhaka University Central Mosque.
More than 10,000 people attended his funeral. After the funeral, President Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, Major General Ziaur Rahman, Real Admiral MH Khan, Air Vice Marshal AG Mahmud, Major General Dastagir carried the national flag-draped body of Nazrul from Suhrawardy Maidan to the premises of the University Mosque. A two-day national mourning day was observed in Bangladesh on the occasion of his death.
Later, the Poet Nazrul Institute Act, 2018 was issued, addressing him as the National Poet.
On December 10, 1929, at Albert Hall in Kolkata, undivided India, the entire Bengali nation recognized poet Kazi Nazrul Islam as a ‘National Hero’ and ‘National Poet’ in the presence of many distinguished personalities including Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, scientists Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, S, Wazed Ali, Dinesh Chandra Das. Later, in the messages given on the occasion of the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the celebration of the poet’s birth anniversary in independent Bangladesh, the President, Prime Minister and Chief Advisors also called the poet a ‘National Poet’. But although he is recognized as the National Poet of Bangladesh in all fields, no gazette notification has been issued officially declaring poet Kazi Nazrul Islam as the National Poet.
