Dhaka: Helal Hafiz, the poet of love and revolution (Innalillahi wainnailahi rajiun), has passed away. He was 76 years old at the time of his death.
He breathed his last on Friday (December 13) at a hostel in Shahbagh called Super Home. Helal Hafiz had been suffering from glaucoma for a long time. He was also suffering from kidney complications, diabetes and nerve complications.
Filmmaker Shabnam Ferdousi confirmed Helal Hafiz's death to Barta24.com.
Shabnam Ferdousi said that poet Helal Hafiz was found unconscious in the hostel where he stayed in Shahbagh. Later, when he was brought to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, the doctors declared him dead.
Helal Hafiz was born on October 7, 1948 in Netrokona.
In 1967, he passed his higher secondary from Netrokona College and was admitted to the Bangla department of Dhaka University. The turbulent sixties became the material for his poetry.
The poem ‘Nishiddha Sampadokio’, written during the mass uprising in 1969, brought him poetic fame. His poem became the slogan of the procession.
‘Now is the best time for those who are young to march/Now is the best time for those who are young to go to war’ These two lines of the timeless poem are inextricably linked to the independence movement of Bangladesh. Later, during the anti-dictatorship movement of the nineties, the poem also aroused a great response among the people.
The first book of poems ‘Je Jalye Agun Jalye’ published in 1986 took the poet to the peak of popularity. After that, more than 33 editions of the book have been published. Helal Hafiz kept himself in hiding for a long time.
After two and a half decades, in 2012, he brought his second book ‘Kavita 71’ to the readers. The third and last book ‘Bednake Bolechi Kedona’ was published in 2019.
Helal Hafiz, one of the country's most renowned poets, received the Bangla Academy Award for Literature in 2013. Before that, he received various honors including the Khalekdad Chowdhury Award.