City Desk :
The 113th birth anniversary of poet Begum Sufia Kamal, founding president of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad and a pioneer of Bengali women’s emancipation, celebrated across the country in a befitting manner.
Different socio-cultural organisations will observe the day through various programmes on Thursday (June 20).
On behalf of Mohila Parishad, the leaders, secretaries and officers of the central and Dhaka city unit committees of organization paid glowing tributes to the poet by placing wreaths at Sufia Kamal Bhaban in the city’s Segunbagicha area at 10:30am marking the day, reports UNB.
In separate messages on the eve of the birth anniversary, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to the memory of the poet.
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.
The President, in his message, said the new and future generations will be imbued with patriotism by the literary works of poet Sufia Kamal.
The head of the state said that the poet’s lifestyle, ideals and literary works will be an eternal source of inspiration for new generations.
Sufia Kamal was an exemplary and bright personality of the women folk of the country, he said.
In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 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 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.