Indira Gandhi Culture Centre has organised a musical evening marking the 116th birth anniversary of legendary musician Abbasuddin Ahmed.
The event was held in the Kobi Sufia Kamal auditorium at National Museum in Dhaka on Tuesday. Abbasuddin’s son Mustafa Zaman Abbasi and granddaughter Dr Nashid Kamal entertained the audience with their numbers.
Born in the Bengal province of erstwhile British India in 1901, Abbasuddin started his career by singing modern Bangla songs for the UK-based HMV studios, followed by modern songs of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh. He had a pioneering role in bringing music to the home of the Indian Muslims and arousing them from a state of backwardness.
He recorded Bhawaiya, Khirol and Chatka which were famous in Rangpur and Cooch Behar. Later he started to sing other folk songs like jaari, sari, bhatiyali, murshidi, bichchhedi (songs of estrangement), marsiya and dehatattwa.
In recognition of his contributions to the musical arena, Abbassddin was awarded many prestigious prizes including Pride of Performance in 1960, Shilpakala Academy Award in1979, and Independence Day Award in 1981.
His son Zaman is well known in Bangladesh and West Bengal as a singer and writer, who served as the chairman of National Committee on Music for 11 years, director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and district governor of Rotary International.
Dr Nashid, granddaughter of Abbasuddin, has, too, been an outstanding exponent of Nazrul Geeti, semi-classical, folk music and Urdu ghazals for over four decades.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
