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PRESS
RELEASE:
Storrs, Connecticut- On
Saturday, September 9, 2006, the Asian American Studies Institute and the
Asian American Cultural Center at the University of Connecticut are proud
to present a symposium to celebrate, explore and introduce to the larger
community the life, vision and works of Bangladesh’s beloved national
poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976), who is also known for his unique and
towering contributions to modern Bengali music, poetry & literature.
Co-sponsored
with community members of Bengali & Bangladeshi origin, the day long
Symposium will be held at UCONN’s Student Union Theatre, beginning at
9:00 AM and concluding at 9:00 PM. The program will feature an academic
seminar, and will also include poetry reading, song and dance
performances, and a feature film screening.
The
Symposium is open to the public, but registration is required. Information
about how to register, directions to the university and parking, as well
as overnight accommodations, if necessary, can be obtained from the
Studies Institute 860-486-4751 or the Cultural Center 860-486-0830.
Confirmed
speakers are as follows: Winston E. Langley (Univ. of Massachusetts); June
McDaniel (College of Charleston); Mohammad Omar Farooq (Upper Iowa Univ.);
Phyllis K. Herman (Cal. State Univ., Northridge); Gulshan Ara, (Taranga of
USA, & Nazrul Endowment Research Study Chairperson); and Neela
Bhattacharya Saxena (Nassau Community College).
His
Excellency, Shamsher M. Chowdhury, BB (Bir Bikram), the Ambassador of
Bangladesh to the United States of America will attend as the chief guest
and address the conference.
In
addition, Professor Rafiqul Islam, Pro-Vice Chancellor of University of
Liberal Arts, Bangladesh and an authority on Nazrul is expected to join
the Symposium from Bangladesh.
Why
Nazrul? Why Now?
“Even
though I was born in Bengal… I belong to the world.”
Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976), National Poet of Bangladesh.
Despite
its darker side manifested in colonialism, the Western Civilization had
the quest for human dignity, freedom and progress at its core.
Inspired from within as well as from the exposure of and encounter
with the western modernity, there were similar, but even more universal
voices from the colonial societies. One such unique and outstanding voice
for the humanity was Kazi Nazrul Islam.
He proclaimed: “I
sing the song of equality/where all status and class become triviality.”
[The Egalitarian] Repudiating all forms of racism, casteism and parochialism, he
proclaimed: “I sing of equality/there’s nothing greater than a human
being.” [Human Being] Thus, he became a leading, universal voice for
freedom, justice and dignity for all people, without forgetting his root
of Bengal.
His
poem “The Rebel” instantly brought him fame and recognition as the
Rebel Poet, even though that is an inadequate label and descriptor. Coming
from a Muslim background, he also articulated a bold, progressive and
non-parochial vision of Islam, and called for tolerance and
bridge-building.
Five
years since the attack on the world trade center, and amid the daily spate
of headlines, both good and bad, implicating Muslims all over the world, a
desire for a deeper understanding of Islam and a more nuanced approach to
the universal quest for peace and harmony has taken root.
Embracing
both the needs for a deeper understanding of Islam and the challenge of
forging a more nuanced approach to achieve this as well as to explore the
life and works of an outstanding voice of universalism and humanity, the
Asian American Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, under
the direction of professor of history, Roger N. Buckley, has teamed up
with key members of the New England's Bangladeshi and Bengali community to
sponsor a day-long Symposium on Saturday, September 9, 2006, to explore
the works of Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Born
in deep poverty in 1899 in what was then British ruled India, Nazrul was a
freedom fighter who advocated for liberation from colonialism,
sectarianism, gender oppression, social injustice and human degradation.
Known as the "Rebel Poet" and eventually named the
national Poet of Bangladesh, Nazrul also was a master musician with a
world record in number of lyrics written and composed. A genuine
universalist and bridge-builder, he wrote and composed not just modern
songs, but also Islamic as well as Hindu devotional songs. To his credit
is a popular poetic translation of parts of the Qur’an. His works
include 21 books of poems, nine plays, six novels, and over 3000 songs.
His
vision was for a just and humane world filled with beauty, love, dynamism
and youth-like vibrancy. He not only fought for this vision at the level
of ideas, he was also a soldier in the field. He identified himself as the
one holding “tender flute” in one hand (for everything good and
wholesome) and the “war bugle” in the other (for everything ugly and
unjust). Through a most
diverse range of roles, he fought for this vision, especially inspiring
the youth to join in the march for a better world (including Bengal). At
the age of 43 he became totally silenced due to a debilitating ailment and
died as the celebrated national poet of Bangladesh in 1976.
Just
as Nazrul viewed himself as belonging to the world, there is now an even
greater need for the world to know and claim him as a great son of the
humanity.
In
her submission for the Symposium, professor of religious studies at
College of Charleston, June McDaniel proposes a wider engagement and study
of Kazi Nazrul Islam as a voice for a more progressive Islam a. She
writes,
I
believe that we need a new understanding of Islam that is progressive
rather than regressive, that values knowledge and love and freedom and
tolerance. We also need a writer who expresses these goals in a way that
makes them understandable and valuable to people over the course of
time. I think Nazrul Islam is such a writer.
Adds
Winston E. Langley, professor of international relations and political
science & provost & vice chancellor of academic affairs at UMASS,
Boston,
Nazrul
is one of the modern poets who has had a significant effect on the 20th
century, and will have an even wider and more profound effect on the 21st
… .his views on politics, aesthetics, ethics, religion, human liberation
and development, globalism, the nature of citizenship, and, human nature
and possibilities, bear directly on some of the most important themes that
have become the defining attributes of where we as human beings
(especially after September 11, 2001) are tending and the collective ends
we are seeking.
For
more information on Kazi Nazrul Islam, visit http://www.nazrul.org,
a site founded and maintained by Mohammad Omar
Farooq, Associate Professor of Economics and Finance at Upper Iowa
University.
Contact
Asian American Studies Institute 860-486-4751 or the Asian American
Cultural Center 860-486-0830 for more information on how to register for
the Symposium.
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