President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today paid rich tributes to the memory of poet Begum Sufia Kamal on the occasion of her 111th birth anniversary to be observed tomorrow.
They also prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul of Sufia Kamal, who was one of the pioneers of all progressive, democratic and women emancipation movements in Bangladesh, in separate messages issued on the eve of the day.
In his message, the President said, "Poet Sufia Kamal was an inspiring brightened personality of the women society in Bangladesh. She had fought throughout her life to make the women folk free from the shackles of superstition and blockade".
Noting that Sufia Kamal joined all the country's progressive movements actively, Hamid said she was a pioneer in organizing women for upholding humanity, non-communal spirit, patriotism and democratic values.
The main objective of Sufia Kamal's lifelong struggle was to establish a humane society having equal rights of men and women in line with the spirit of the Liberation War, he added.
"I firmly believe that the literary works of poet Sufia Kamal will encourage and inspire the new and future generations to be imbued with patriotism," the President hoped.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said on the one hand, Sufia Kamal was a portrait of traditional Bengali women, on the other hand, she played an uncompromising and steadfast role in every movement and struggle of the Bangla.
Sufia Kamal was instilled with the thoughts and ideologies of Begum Rokeya and it had a great influence on her life, she said, adding that in response to her (Sufia Kamal's) demand, the first female-dormitory of Dhaka University was named as 'Rokeya Hall'.
The Prime Minister recalled Sufia Kamal's role in the movement against ban on Tagore's songs by the Pakistani government in 1961.
The people conferred the titled "Janani Sahasika' to Sufia Kamal for her direct involvement in different democratic movements, including language movement in 1952, mass-upsurge of 1969, non-cooperation movement and the Great Liberation War of 1971, she said.
The Awami League government built a female dormitory after the name of Sufia Kamal, the premier added.
Sheikh Hasina said Sufia Kamal's role had inspired the pro-liberation forces when the distortion of history began in the country after the assassination of the Greatest Bangalee of all times Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
The Prime Minister hoped on the 111th birth anniversary of timeless poet Sufia Kamal that her philosophy and literary works will enlighten the hearts of the readers from generation to generation.
Born on June 20, 1911 in an aristocratic and decent family, known as the Nabab family of Shayestabad in Barishal, Begum Sufia Kamal dedicated her whole life to the promotion of women liberty, progressive thinking and non-communal politics.
She was an activist of the historic Language Movement in 1952 and also played a significant role in the Great War of Liberation.
She was also an excellent organizer. In 1956, she organized "Kochi-Kachar Mela", a platform for the children, and organized the Bangladesh Mohila Parishad in 1970.
Begum Sufia Kamal died in Dhaka on November 20 in 1999 and was buried at Azimpur Graveyard with full state honour.
She won more than 50 awards for her contributions to the literature including "Ekushey Padak", "Swadhinata Dibash Padak", "Bangla Academy Padak", "Soviet Lenin Award", "Begum Rokeya Padak", and "Jatiya Kobita Porishad Award".
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