President, PM pay tributes to Nazrul on eve of birth anniversary

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today paid rich tributes to National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam on his 125th birth anniversary, to be observed tomorrow.

In separate messages, they prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul of the poet.

In his message, President Mohammed Shahabuddin said, the poet's fiery writings speak out for the rights of the exploited and deprived people and teach them to protest against injustice.

From the songs and poems of the poet, people have been inspired in every democratic movement, including the anti-British movement, language movement, mass upsurge of 1969 and the Liberation War, he added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said poet Nazrul has enriched the literature, music and culture of the country through his writings.

She said Nazrul was the first Bengali poet who demanded complete independence of India from British rule.

In his literary works, the message of struggle against subjugation, communalism and imperialism has been uttered, the premier said, adding that possessing an extraordinary and versatile talent, Nazrul was a symbol of secularism and nationalism.

In the post-independence period, the poet was brought from Kolkata to Bangladesh with the honor of National Poet as per the desire of Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina added.

"Poet Nazrul dreamt of establishing a non-communal, discrimination-free, exploitation-free and peaceful society and we find that reflection in the struggle and actions of the father of the nation," the premier said.