Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899 – 1976) – He is known asBidrohi Kobi - The Rebel Poet of Bengal, The National Poet of Bangladesh, and more truly a World Poet. He was a very versatile poet, lyricist and writer who composed many beautiful verses of poems, prose, songs and classical music.
Nazrul known as the ‘Rebel’ poet in Bengali literature and the ‘Bulbul’ or Nightingale of Bengali music, was one of the most colorful personalities of undivided Bengal. He may be considered a pioneer of post-Tagore modernity in Bengali poetry. The new kind of poetry that he wrote made possible the emergence of modernity in Bengali poetry during the 1920s and 1930s.
His poems, songs, novels, short stories, plays and political activities expressed strong protest against various forms of oppression - slavery, communalism, feudalism and colonialism - and forced the British government not only to ban many of his books but also to put him in prison. While in prison, Kazi Nazrul lslam once fasted for 40 days to protest against the tyranny of the then British government.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on May 24, 1899 in Churulia village, Bardhawan in West Bengal, India. His mother was Zaheda Khatun and his father Kazi Fakir Ahmed was the Imaam of the local village mosque. The second of three sons and one daughter, Nazrul lost his father in 1908 when he was only 9 years old and his father died at the age of 60. Nazrul’s nickname was “Dukhu Mia” (hapless chap), a name that aptly reflects the hardships and misery of his life right from the early years. His father’s premature death forced him, at the age of 10, to become the Muazzin (a caller for prayer) of the local mosque. This early exposure to the principles and practices of Islam was to have a significant impact on his later literary endeavors.
Revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam died on 29th August 1976 and was buried here. The graveyard is adjacent to the Dhaka University Central Mosque.
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