Agnisetu- Qazi Nazrul Islam ki Jeeavni - Vishnuchandra Sharma

Written by Vishnuchandra Sharma
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Kazi Nazrul Islam(26th May,1899 to 29th August,1976) was an Indian–Bangladeshi poet,writer,musician,and is the National Poet of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.Nazrul is regarded as one of the greatest poets in Bengali Literature.Popularly known as Nazrul,he produced a large body of poetry,music,messages,novels,stories,etc.with themes that included equality,justice,anti-imperialism,humanity,rebellion against oppression and religious devotion.Nazrul’s activism for political and social justice as well as writing a poem titled as “Vidrohi”,meaning “The Rebel” in Bengali,earned him the title of “Vidrohi Kavi”(Rebel Poet).His compositions form the avant-garde music genre of Nazrul Giti(Music of Nazrul).

He wrote that the religious quarrels were between Priests and Imams and not between individual Muslims and Hindus.He wrote that the Prophets had become property like cattle but they should instead be treated like a light that is for all men.

Nazrul criticized religious fanaticism,denouncing it as evil and inherently irreligious.He wrote about human equality in his writings.He also explored the philosophy of the Holy Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad by writing about them.Nazrul has been compared to William Butler Yeats by Serajul Islam Choudhury,Bengali literary critic and professor emeritus at the University of Dhaka,for being the first Muslim poet to create imagery and symbolism of Muslim historical figures such as Qasim ibn Hasan,Ali,Umar,Kamal Pasha,and Prophet Muhammad.His condemnation of extremism and mistreatment of women provoked condemnation from Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists who opposed his liberal views on Religion.

His works led Islamic devotional songs into the mainstream of Bengali Folk Music,exploring the Islamic practices of namaz(prayer),roza(fasting),hajj(pilgrimage),and zakat(charity).He wrote the song “O Mon Romzaner Oi Rozar Sheshe” on fasting during Ramadan.This was regarded by his contemporaries as a significant achievement,as Bengali Muslims had been strongly averse to devotional music.

Nazrul was not limited to Islamic devotional music but also wrote Hindu devotional music.He composed Agamanis,Bhajans,Shyama Sangeet,and Kirtans.Nazrul wrote over 500 Hindu devotional songs.However,a section of Muslims criticized for writing Shyama Sangeet and declared him Kafir(infidel).

Although a Muslim,he named his sons with both Hindu and Muslim names:Krishna Mohammad,Arindam Khaled(Bulbul),Kazi Sabyasachi and Kazi Aniruddha