President, PM pay tributes to Rabindranath on birth anniversary

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday in separate messages paid rich tributes to on the eve of 162nd birth anniversary of the great poet Rabindranath Tagore.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin, in his message, said, "On the 162nd birth anniversary of the world poet Rabindranath Tagore, I pay my deepest respect to his memory."

Rabindranath Tagore is the main icon of Bengali consciousness and the spirit, the head of the state added.

In almost all branches of Bengali literature, he has roamed in glory and has made distinctive contributions, he said, adding that he is one of the best composers of the language.

Rabindranath Tagore honored the Bengali nation by receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his poetic work 'Gitanjali', the president said.

He was the first non-European to achieve this highest recognition in world literature, he said.

Rabindranath Tagore brought the pluralism of Indian culture, the non-violence spirit of Buddhism and the Sufism of Islam and the visionary spirit of the Bauls of Bengal to the world, he added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said Rabindranath Tagore is the main symbol of spirit and conscience of the Bengali nation.

"He has a unique role in all branches of Bangla literature. He is one of the best music creators of ours. He is also famous as a painter, social thinker and philosopher," the premier added.

Rabindranath drew attention of the world through winning the prestigious Nobel Prize in 1913 for his poetic work 'Gitanjali', she said.

Noting that Rabindranath's songs became a special source of inspiration during the Great War of Liberation in 1971, she said that all the feelings including the sufferings, joys and pains of the people of universal Bangla have truly come out in his literature.

As per the desire of the greatest Bengali of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Rabindranath's inimitable creation 'Amar Sonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Valobashi' became the country's national anthem, she added.

Bangabandhu took inspiration from Rabindra literature to overcome crisis, she said.

Rabindranath becomes more relevant in the current world as the world is witnessing war-conflict, narrowness of nationalism, fundamentalism and class discrimination, she said.

Sheikh Hasina hoped that the life style of the world poet Rabindranath and his creations will forever inspire the Bengalis in building a non-communal Bangladesh free from exploitation and deprivation.

Both the president and the premier wished all the programmes taken on the occasion of the 162nd birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore a success.

The 162nd birth anniversary of great poet Rabindranath Tagore, the writer of national anthem of the country, is tomorrow.

On the 25th of Baishakh in 1268 Bengali year, Rabindranath Tagore, the fountainhead of Bengali wisdom, was born at Jorashako in Kolkata.