In Bangladesh, the tradition of organizing the national celebrations of poet Rabindranath Tagore and National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in their memorial places is going to disappear? For a long time there has been a tradition of organizing these birth anniversaries for a few days in grandways, but in recent years, due to various reasons, Rabindra and Nazrul Jayanti celebrations are no longer held on that scale. Instead of open spaces outside Dhaka, the scope of these events is being confined to the auditoriums on a limited scale in the capital.
On the occasion of the birth and death of these two pioneers of Bengali literature and culture, grand events were held to highlight their extensive works and stories of their lives. Outside the capital, at the district level, at the memorial places of the poets, there was a long period of decoration around this event. The government or the head of state used to attend. But as the national celebrations of Rabindra and Nazrul Jayanti are getting stuck in the capital city of Dhaka due to various excuses, the participation of the President or the Prime Minister has also decreased.
Stating that there will be no difference in the 125th birth anniversary of the national poet, AFM Hayatullah, Executive Director of the poet Nazrul Institute, told Barta24.com, "The national level events of Rabindra and Nazrul Jayanti are celebrated by the Ministry of Culture. And death anniversaries are organized by certain institutions. For example, since Kabi Nazrul Institute is established in the name of Kabi, the program of Nazrul's death anniversary is organized by the institute.
He said, this year is being organized in the same way as it is celebrated in other years. This year's inauguration ceremony will begin at 4 pm on May 25 (2024) at the National Museum. Rabindra and Nazrul birth anniversaries were held at the memorial places of the poets. This time too, but the national level programs will not be outside Dhaka.
Districts outside Dhaka are Nazrul's memorials; Nazrul has visited and stayed in such districts as Mymensingh, Cumilla, Manikganj, Chattogram, Chuadanga, because of kinship or friendship. Rabindra's birth anniversary ceremony at the national level has also been held in Dhaka, Nazrul's birth anniversary will also be held in Dhaka. The government's reason for not celebrating Nazrul's birth anniversary outside Dhaka is that elections are being held in the upazilas of the country at this time. Especially the district administration helps the ministry in organizing these. District administrations will be busy with election work. Nazrul may pay less attention to the Jayanti celebrations. The purpose of this program to reach the people, it will not be fully successful, so it has been decided to hold these events in Dhaka - said this senior official of the government.
Those concerned said that there is a high-level committee to celebrate the birth anniversary of Rabindra and Nazrul at the national level. It also includes important people from the cultural sphere of the country. It was decided in the committee meeting on April 2 (2024) that Rabindra Jayanti will be in Shilpakala Academy and Nazrul Jayanti will be in Bangla Academy.
It has been reported that some renovation work is going on in Bangla Academy, so there may be electricity problem. It has been decided to hold a three-day long national program of Nazrul Jayanti in the main auditorium of the National Museum instead of organizing this event on the open stage due to the fear of rain and storm.
According to related sources, Awami League presidium member and former minister Matia Chowdhury MP will be the chief guest on the opening day on May 25 at 4 pm. Khalil Ahmad, secretary of the Ministry of Culture, will be the special guest. Mofidul Haque, Trustee of Liberation War Museum, will be the commemorative speaker. Minister of State for Culture Nahid Izhar Khan, MP will preside. After the discussion program, there will be a cultural program with performances by children with special needs.
The chief guest of the second day of the event on May 26 will be Sajjadul Hasan, MP, President of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Artist Khairul Anam Shakeel, president of the board of trustees of Kabi Nazrul Institute, will be the special guest. Director General of National Museum Md. Kamruzzaman will preside. On May 27, the chief guest of the third day of the program will be Prime Minister's Advisor on Education and Culture Kamal Abdul Nasser Chowdhury, Artist Sadia Afrin Mallick will be the special guest. AFM Hayatullah, Executive Director of Kabi Nazrul Institute, will be the commemorative speaker on the last day.
A member of the National Committee for the celebration of Rabindra and Nazrul Jayanti of the Ministry of Culture was asked to know the reason for not maintaining the traditional style in organizing the Jayanti in recent years, he refused to talk about it. However, Rabindra and Nazrul fans say, in this time of decay of values, Rabindranath and Nazrul's literary and biographical views are on our way. On their birth and death days, in a colorful way was organized outside Dhaka at the memorial places of the poets, which accelerated the cultural practices across the country. But confining this event to the auditorium of the capital is definitely part of stifling the development of our culture. They also think it is important to identify those who are working carefully behind it.