Sufia Kamal`s 16th death anniversary today

Desk Report: Today (Nov 20) is the 16th death anniversary of poet Sufia Kamal, also founder president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad and a pioneer of Bangalee women`s emancipation.

Marking the day, different social and cultural organisations have taken various programmes. The programmes include discussion sessions, seminars and cultural shows.

Born in the Shayestabad’s Nawab family in Barisal, Sufia Kamal (1911–1999) dedicated herself to establishing a democratic, non-communal, equal society based on the spirit of the war of independence.

She also strongly advocated empowerment of vulnerable groups in society, especially women.

Her first poem, Bashanti, was published in Saogat magazine in 1926. In 1937, she published her first collection of short stories titled Keyar Kanta.

Sufia Kamal served as the founding president of Purba Pakistan Mahila Samiti after it was formed in 1948.

She took part in the language movement in 1952 and was actively involved in upholding Bengali culture in the subsequent years, and protested against the Pakistani government’s attempts to suppress Bangla language and culture, particularly the infamous ban on Tagore literature in 1961.

She edited the women`s magazine “Begum” before partition of the subcontinent in 1947. Her “Ekatturer Diary” tells the untold stories of 1971.

In one of her poems, Benibinyas Samay To Ar Nei, she urges women to come forward and help in the cause of the war as they, too, have a responsibility towards their motherland.

For her lifelong activism and literary contributions, Sufia Kamal was conferred on the Independence Day Award, Ekushey Padak, Bangla Academy Award, Deshbandhu CR Das Gold Medal, and many other national and international awards.  

Sufia Kamal became the founding chairperson of Mahila Sangram Parishad (now Bangladesh Mahila Parishad) after it was formed in 1969 and remained closely associated with it till her death.

Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to the memory of Sufia Kamal.

Risingbd/DHAKA/Nov 20, 2015/Mukul