Cultural and literary personalities, friends and fans paid rich tribute to poet Shamsur Rahman on the seventh anniversary of his death yesterday.
Different socio-cultural organisations observed the day with elaborate programmes.
Jatiya Kabita Parishad and Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote placed wreaths at the grave of the poet at Banani in the morning. A milad mahfil was held at the poet’s Shyamoli residence in the afternoon, reports UNB.
Poet Shamsur Rahman emerged in the latter half of the 20th century who wrote more than 60 books of poetry and is considered a key figure in Bengali literature. He was noted as an urban poet, columnist and journalist.
Major themes in his poetry and writings include liberal humanism, human relations, romanticism, democracy, religious fundamentalism and more.
Rahman was born on October 23, 1929 at his grandfather’s residence in Dhaka. He was the fourth of 13 children. He studied at Pogose High School, Dhaka College and Dhaka University.
Among his famed works are ‘Roudro Korotite’, ‘Biddhasta Nilima’, ‘Niraloke Dibyaroth’ and ‘Adiganta Nagna Padaddhani’. Besides poetry, he also contributed to the realms of essays, stories, novels, translations and columns. Rabindra Bharati University and Jadavpur University of India conferred honorary D.Lit. degrees upon him.
His poems were translated into many languages. Shamsur Rahman was honoured with many national and international awards like Admajee Award, Bangla Academy Award for literature, Jibananandadas Purosker-1973, Ekushey Padak- 1977, Kabitalap Purosker-1979, Abul Munsur Gold Medal-1981, Bhasani Purosker-1982, and Mitsubishi (Japan) Award for Journalism-1982.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid deep homage to the memory of eminent poet Shamsur Rahman.
In a message, the Prime Minister said, “Shamsur Rahman was one of the major poets in modern Bangla literature.”
