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Dr. Syed Mehboob
Senior Research Editor
The News Lark, political and economic analyst
Pakistan and Bangladesh are moving forward towards a new era of friendship and cooperation, people of both countries love one another and want to create better understanding and an atmosphere of greater cooperation. Recently a direct flight from Karachi to Dhaka has been started which has linked people in a better and convenient way. Similarly the hearts of people are also linked and one important move in this direction was a very important conference on Allama Iqbal and Kazi Nazrul Islam the great poets of South Asia.
9th November 2025 was a historical day when a two day international conference in the philosophy of renaissance in the thoughts of Allama Iqbal and Kazi Nazrul Islam was held at the Nabab Ali Chowdhry Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University. Dhaka University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan attended the inaugural session as the Chief Guest. Dean of the Faculty of Arts Professor Dr Muhammad Siddiqur Rehman Khan, Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Islamic Thoughts Dr M Abdul Aziz, and Editor of Dainik Amar Desh Mahmudur Rahman spoke at the function as special guests, while Chairman of the Dhaka University Urdu Department Mawla presided over the session. Professor Dr Muhmudul Hasan of the International Islamic University Malaysia ( IIUM) and Professor Dr Khaja M Ekram Uddin of Jawaharlal Nehru University, India presented the key note papers.
The inaugural session began with the national anthem and after the recitation of the Holy Quran, a one minute silence was observed in memory of the martyrs of the War of Independence in 1971 and uprising of 2024. It was a big success and representation was international. Representatives from twenty two countries participated and one hundred and thirty-three papers were presented in eighteen different sessions. On this occasion, Dhaka University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan said that the university developed mainly through merit, innovation and a joint network of knowledge practices. He further said that International Conference had further enriched the scope of knowledge exchange. This conference was not only an academic discussion but also a rare celebration of networking and human values. The event also strengthened mutual bounding and cooperation among scholars. Scholars reminded the lives and contribution of these two great poets and philosophers. These two poets and philosophers have immense influence on the thoughts of intellectuals of South Asia as well as of common people.
This two day 4th International Conference and Mushaira titled” The Role of Iqbal and Nazrul Islam in National Awakening” was a great success and Mr. Muhammad Golam Mawla, Chairperson of the department of Urdu was one of the soul and heart of this programme. The conference took place at four separate venues, including the Nabab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building on the campus.
Intellectuals from twenty two countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, England, The Unite States, Qatar, Eqypt, Canada, Germany, FINLAND< Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iran, Turkiye, Nepal, Malaysia, Japan and others enthusiastically participated and shared their valued research and thoughts. In eighteen academic sessions one hundred and twenty seven (127) research papers were presented.
Among the prominent and renowned esteemed scholars who participated in this conference were Dr. Fatema Hasan, Dr. Humaira Ishfaq (Pakistan), Sarwar Ghazali (Germany), Prof. Kazi Ahmad Abdur Rahman (Egypt), Amir Mehdi (UK), Gausia Sultana Noori (USA), Prof. Khwaja Muhammad Ikramuddin and Prof. Aslam Jamshedpuri (India), Poet Sakib Haruni (Nepal), Wali Alam Shaheen (Canada), Faisal Nawaz Chowdhury (Norway), Sadaf Mirza (Denmark), Hina Khurasani Rizvi (Sweden), Arshad Farooq Hashmi (Finland), Ali Bayat (Iran), Mokhaya Abdur Rahman (Uzbekistan), Ludmila (Russia), and Mahmudul Hasan (Malaysia) were in the conference among the foreign guests.
Allama Iqbal and Kazi Nazrul Islam, both poets, belonging to distinct cultural and geographical contexts—Iqbal from Pakistan and Nazrul from Bengal—express profound spiritual insights rooted in Sufi philosophy and tradition. these two poets articulate and interpret concepts such as divine love (ishq) and the mystical journey (suluk) within their respective poetic oeuvres. the poetic symbols, metaphors, and allegories used by Iqbal and Nazrul to convey their spiritual experiences and insights, which often resonate with classical Sufi literature. Bothe Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Nazrul Islam their message is universal. Kazai said,” “Even though I was born in this country (Bengal), in this society, I don’t belong to just this country, this society. I belong to the world.” [Nazrul Rochonaboli, Bangla Academy, Vol. 4, p. 91]
Nazr ul Islam was a very versatile poet, lyricist and writer who composed many beautiful verses of poems, prose, songs and classical music.
Nazrul known as the ‘Rebel’ poet in Bengali literature and the ‘Bulbul’ or Nightingale of Bengali music, was one of the most colourful personalities of undivided Bengal. He may be considered a pioneer of post-Tagore modernity in Bengali poetry. The new kind of poetry that he wrote made possible the emergence of modernity in Bengali poetry during the 1920s and 1930s. His poems, songs, novels, short stories, plays and political activities expressed strong protest against various forms of oppression – slavery, communalism, feudalism and colonialism – and forced the British government not only to ban many of his books but also to put him in prison. While in prison, Kazi Nazrul lslam once fasted for 40 days to protest against the tyranny of the then British government.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on May 24, 1899 in Churulia village, Bardhawan in West Bengal, India. His mother was Zaheda Khatun and his father Kazi Fakir Ahmed was the Imaam of the local village mosque. The second of three sons and one daughter, Nazrul lost his father in 1908 when he was only 9 years old and his father died at the age of 60. Nazrul’s nickname was “Dukhu Mia” (hapless chap), a name that aptly reflects the hardships and misery of his life right from the early years. His father’s premature death forced him, at the age of 10, to become the Muazzin (a caller for prayer) of the local mosque. This early exposure to the principles and practices of Islam was to have a significant impact on his later literary endeavors.
In 1910, at the age of 11, Nazrul returned to his student life enrolling in class VI. The Headmaster of the school remembers him in the following words: “He was a small, good-looking boy, always the first to greet me. I used to smile at him and pat him on the back. He was very shy.”
Again, financial difficulties compelled him to leave school after class VI, and Dukhu Mia ended up as a cook in a bakery and tea-shop in Asansole.
In his youth, Nazrul joined a folk-opera group inspired by his uncle Bazle Karim who himself was well-known for composing songs in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. As a member of this folk-opera group, the young Nazrul was not only a performer, but began composing poems and songs himself. Nazrul’s involvement with the group was an important formative influence in his literary career.
Nazrul submitted to the hard life with characteristic courage. In 1914, Nazrul escaped from the rigors of the tea-shop to re-enter a school in Darirampur village, Trishal in Mymensingh district. Although Nazrul had to change schools two or three times, he managed to continue up to class X, and in 1917 he joined the Indian Army when boys of his age were busy preparing for the matriculation pre-test examination.
For almost three years, up to March-April 1920, Nazrul served in the army and was promoted to the rank of Battalion Quarter Master Havildar. Even as a soldier, he continued his literary and musical activities, publishing his first piece ‘The Autobiography of a Delinquent” (Saogat, May 1919) and his first poem, “Freedom” in BangiyaMusalman. Sahitya-patrika, (July 1919), during his posting at Karachi cantonment. What is remarkable is that even when he was in Karachi, he subscribed regularly to the leading contemporary literary periodicals that were published from Calcutta like, Prabasi, Bharatbarsha, Bharati, Saogat and others.
When after the 1st World War in 1920, the 49th Bengal Regiment was disbanded, Nazrul returned to Calcutta to begin his journalistic and literary life. His poems, essays and novels began to appear regularly in a number of periodicals and within a year he became well known not only to the prominent Muslim intellectuals of the time, but was also accepted by the Hindu literary establishment in Calcutta. In 1921, Nazrul went to Santiniketan to meet Rabindranath Tagore – his master-poet, the source of his inspiration…
The same year, Nazrul was engaged to be married to the love of his life – Nargis, the niece of a well-known Muslim publisher Ali Akbar Khan, in Daulatpur, Comilla, but on the day of the wedding (18th June, 1921) Nazrul suddenly backed out at the last moment, and left the place due to some serious misunderstandings and disagreements. However, many songs and poems reveal the deep wound that this experience inflicted on the young Nazrul and his lingering love for Nargis.
In 1922, Nazrul published a volume of short stories Byathar Dan (The Gift of Sorrow), an anthology of poems Agnibeena, an anthology of essays Yugabani, and a bi-weekly magazine, Dhumketu. A political poem published in Dhumketu in September 1922, led to a police raid on the magazine’s office, a ban on his anthology Yugabani, and one year’s rigorous imprisonment for the poet himself.
On April 14, 1923, when Nazrul lslam was transferred from the Alipore jail to the Hooghly jail, he began a fast to protest the mistreatment by a British jail-superintendent. Immediately, Rabindranath Tagore, who had dedicated his musical play, Basanta, to Nazrul, sent a telegram saying: “Give up hunger strike, our literature claims you”, but the telegram was sent back to the sender with the stamp “addressee not found.”
Nazrul broke his fast more than a month later and was eventually released from prison in December 1923. On 25th April 1924, Kazi Nazrul lslam married a Hindu woman Pramila Devi and set up his residence in Hooghly. An anthology of poems ‘Bisher Banshi’ and an anthology of songs ‘Bhangar Gan’ were published later this year and both volumes were seized by the government. Nazrul soon became actively involved in politics (1925), joined rallies and meetings, and became a member of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. He also played an active role in the formation of a workers and peasants party. ( Continued)
