Finally, Kazi Nazrul Islam received national recognition as the National Poet of Bangladesh. From the date of his arrival in Bangladesh on 4 May 1972, a notification was published in the Official Gazette declaring him the ‘National Poet’ of Bangladesh.
Based on the order of the President, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture. The newspaper bulletin signed by Attaur Rahman said that poet Kazi Nazrul Islam has been declared the national poet of Bangladesh as per the proposal approved at the advisory board meeting last December and published in newspaper form for everyone’s information.
It may be noted that in the Advisory Council meeting held on December 5, the proposal to publish a notification in the Official Gazette declaring poet Kazi Nazrul Islam as National Poet was approved.
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam’s status as a national poet is an established fact and recognized at the state level as well. The people of Bangladesh were anticipating a government announcement by the national poet from the date of his arrival in Dhaka. The Shura Council approved this proposal accordingly.
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was brought to Dhaka on 24 May 1972 from Kolkata with his family on government initiative and House No. 330-B of Road No. 28 (Old) Dhanmondi was allotted for his residence.
Then in January 1976, the Bangladeshi government granted Bangladeshi citizenship to the poet. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak Award on February 21 of the same year. Ekushey Padak is Bangladesh’s second civilian honorary medalist.
In 1974, the authorities of Dhaka University decided to award Kazi Nazrul Islam the honorary title of D.Litt along with other individuals in recognition of his special contribution to Bengali literature and culture.
The decision to award this title was made on 9 December 1974 at an awards ceremony in the Teachers and Students Hall (TSC) of the university. It was not possible to bring Nazrul to this festival due to illness. Subsequently, on January 25, 1975, in a special ceremony in Bangabhabhan, the then Chancellor of Dhaka University, President Mohammadullah Nazrul, conferred Dr. He was awarded the title of Lit. Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Abdul Matin Chowdhury also read a message of appreciation to Nazrul.
The poet Nazrul died on August 29, 1976.
Nasrul wrote in one of his songs: “Bury me next to the mosque, my brother, so that I can hear the muezzin’s call to prayer, even from the ground.” Respecting this wish, the poet was buried with full honors next to the Central Mosque of Dhaka University.
His funeral was attended by more than 10,000 people. After the funeral, President Abul Sadat Muhammad Saim, Major General Ziaur Rahman, Admiral Muhammad Khan, Air Vice Marshal AG Mahmud and Major General Dastgir carried Nazrul’s body draped in the national flag from Suhrawardy Square to the Jamia Mosque building. A two-day official day of mourning was observed in Bangladesh to mark his death. After that, the Poet Nazrul Institute Law of 2018 was issued with the title of National Poet.
On 10 December 1929, poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was named ‘National Kandari’ and ‘National Poet’ in the presence of various personalities including Netaji Subas Chandra Bose, scholar Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, S, Wajid Ali and Dinesh Chandra Das on behalf of the entire Bengali nation in Albert Hall in Calcutta, undivided India
Subsequently, the President, Prime Minister and senior advisors called the poet “National Poet” in the speech he delivered on the occasion of the poet’s birth anniversary in the Bangladesh Liberation War and Independent Bangladesh. But despite being recognized as the National Poet of Bangladesh, Kazi Nazrul Islam has never been officially declared the National Poet.