The 48th death anniversary of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam will be observed in the country today in a befitting manner.

On August 27 (12 Bhadra of Bangla calendar year) in 1976, the poet breathed his last at the then PG Hospital, now Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, in Dhaka.

The poet was buried with state honour beside the Dhaka University central mosque.

Different political parties, socio-cultural and professional bodies have chalked out programmes to pay respect to the national poet.

Kazi Nazrul was a poet, lyricist, musician, and philosopher. His father’s name was Kazi Faqeer Ahmed and mother was Zahida Khatun. His nickname was ‘Dukhu Mia’.

Born on May 24, 1899 (11 Joishtta, 1306 Bonggabdo) in the village Churulia, West Bengal of India’s Bardhaman district, Nazrul wrote nearly 3,000 songs and composed many of them which are known as Nazrul-Geeti or Nazrul Sangeet. Besides, he wrote 600 poems, three novels and 43 articles in a career spanning 21 years before losing his speech.

Freedom, humanity, love and revolution are the constant themes in Kazi Nazrul’s majestic literary creations. He was against all sorts of religious, caste-based and gender-based discrimination and extremism. He was known and regarded as the rebel poet for his iconoclastic and magical literary creations.

The nation got inspirations from Nazrul’s poems and songs during the great Liberation War in 1971 and all other democratic movements and struggles.

His family travelled to Bangladesh at the invitation of then Bangladeshi government and settled down in Dhaka in 1972. For his iconic contribution to Bangla literature and culture, Dhaka University awarded him an honorary post-doctoral degree in 1974. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 1976.

Kazi Nazrul passed away in Dhaka on August 29, 1976.