Kazi Nazrul Islam, according to Kazi Abdul Wadud (1895-1970), perhaps the first formidable critic who took him seriously, “was the first writer among Bengali Muslims of the modern era who was able to conquer the hearts of Hindus and Muslims alike of Bengal.”

In Europe, steam power evolved gradually and uncertainly over the course of the eighteenth century, with innovative peaks and long plateaus, from Thomas Savery’s steam pump (1698) via Thomas Newcomen’s reciprocating atmospheric engine (1712) to James Watt and Matthew Boulton’s double-acting rotative steam engine with a separate condenser (1765-90).

Rabindranath Tagore is perhaps the only poet whose songs were chosen as the national anthems of two countries: India and Bangladesh.

“I firmly believe in the profound impact of music, dance, and acting on shaping people’s thoughts and emotions.

I deem it a great privilege and pleasure to preside over this Convocation of the University of Dacca; and to join you in offering my blessings and good wishes for the success and prosperity of those graduates who have been admitted to various degrees today.

The necessity that was felt a few days after the Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh was that of a Government which could take upon itself the burden of directing the liberation struggle.

The Daily Star (TDS): Your family was closely involved with the Liberation War of Bangladesh. Could you please provide some insights into this historical involvement?

Historian Willem van Schendel divides the historiography of the War of 1971 into two broad categories: i) first-generation historiographies and ii) second-generation historiographies.

The year 2023 marked the centennial of Abul Mansur Ahmad’s journalism—a milestone that holds not only significance but also relevance in understanding his enduring impact.

In a jungle by a wide river bank, a small group is sitting amongst the dangling roots of a luscious banyan tree. The single-stringed ektara, four-stringed dotara, wood-bead necklace mala, hand-spunned bright-coloured cotton gamccha and white outfits identify the members as Bauls, the traditional mystic musicians of Bangladesh.

Listen, from one Mujibur/ A thousand Mujib’s voices rise/ The sounds and echoes of those voices/ Ring out through the wind and the sky/ Bangladesh, my Bangladesh…. 

‘Academy’, as many of us know, is a word that comes from the French word ‘academie’, evolving from Latin ‘academia’—the ultimate ancestor of both being Greek ‘akademeia’.

Apparently, Bengali (or Bangla) is the seventh spoken language in the world by population. By some statistics, its position is sixth, and even fifth in another! I am not elated by this because the number of speakers of a language does not demonstrate its acceptance nor its popularity, globally or locally.

British administrator and archaeologist Alexander Cunningham, who served as the first director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), founded in 1861, conducted the first archaeological survey in 1862-1863, followed by the second one in 1889-1891.

Both my parents had been actively engaged in the struggle for the liberation of Algeria from French colonialism. A few months after its independence, we left France to live in Algiers, sharing the house with two Algerian families whose women, Fatima and Jima, were like other mothers to me.

“People here grumble and say that the heart of the Poet in Meghanad is with the Rakhasas. And that is the real truth. I despise Ram and his rabble; but the idea of Ravan, elevates and kindles my imagination; he was a grand fellow.”

Pierre Alain-Baud, (Pyaro), the author of Le Messager du Qawwali (Voix du Monde) (Demi Lune 2008), and Kazi Abdullah Al Muktadir, the book’s Bangla translator in Shahen Shah E Qawwali: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Pathak Shamabesh 2022) talked with Nazia Manzoor, Editor of the Daily Star Books. The authors shared anecdotes. What started out as a fun experiment, ended as a lasting experience in the hearts of all of us who were present that day.

There has not been much research on to what extent the shadow of 1971 has been reflected in Bangla literature.

The Daily Star (TDS): Congratulations on being honored with the prestigious 2023 AXA IM Research Award. We are eager to learn more about the specific accomplishments that led to this recognition and the impactful work for which you are being celebrated.

Indians in general are by and large unabashedly proud of India’s role in, and contribution to Bangladesh’s Independence, which came about at the end of 1971.