UNB, Dhaka :The 105th birth anniversary of legendary poet, political activist and torchbearer of women’s emancipation Sufia Kamal will be celebrated across the country on Monday with programs taken up by the government and various cultural organizations.Bangladesh MahilaParishad (BMP) will arrange a memorial lecture, award-giving ceremony and a cultural programme at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium at Bangla Academy.Dr Nasim Akhter Hossain, Professor of Government and Politics at Jahangirnagar University will present the keynote speech on ‘Sufia Kamal and Women’s Movement of the 21st century’ during the programme.Professor Hasan Azizul Haque has been nominated for the Sufia Kamal honorary award this year.Effayat Ara Dewan, Sonjoy Roy, Sutpa Shah, will performme at the cultural programme while President of BMP will preside over the program.Born on June 20, 1911, Sufia Kamal was awarded the Bangla Academy Award for Literature (1962), Lenin Centenary Jubilee Medal (1970) from the Soviet Union, Ekushey Padak (1976), Czechoslovakia Medal (1986), Jatiya Kabita Parishad Award (1995), Begum Rokeya Padak (1996), Deshbandhu CR Das Gold Medal (1996) and Independence Day Award (1997) for her works.Sufia Kamal was also instrumental naming the first women’s dormitory of Dhaka University as Rokeya Hall, after Begum Rokeya. In 1999, Douglas Martin of The New York Times wrote that “though she called herself a romantic poet, her work more and more reflected the struggles to preserve the Bengali language and culture and to fight Pakistani rulers.” During Bangladesh’s struggle for independence from Pakistan in 1971 she worked to help women hurt by the war. She also worked with an organization to try to bring justice those Pakistani officials whom the Bangladeshis considered war criminals.
