National poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, who recognised women as the driving force of the world, in his active intellectual life envisioned a just society for women.
抖阴精品 spoke to leading litterateurs of the country who shared their views about the portrayal of women by Kazi Nazrul Islam who put them in a proper place of honour in society.
Veteran writer-translator Khaliquzzaman Elias thinks that a strong voice against all sorts of odds, Kazi Nazrul will remain a comrade-in-arms of the oppressed and the insulted.
鈥業ndeed, Nazrul was a prodigy. Almost in all areas of literature鈥攑oetry, fiction, drama and essay鈥� Nazrul had made his appearance visible from the second decade of the last century and I know of no other individual writing more than three thousand songs singlehandedly in such a short span of life,鈥� Khaliquzzaman Elias mentions.
Today, Nazrul鈥檚 songs are inseparable from the cultural activities of the Bengali-speaking population, he says, adding that living in a turbulent age of communal politics, Nazrul maintained all together a progressive view and was a strong voice against British colonial repression.
Pointing out that hardly any other writers of Nazrul鈥檚 time were so strongly and effectively rebellious against social and political injustice, Khaliquzzaman Elias says, 鈥楴azrul was among the champions who raised strong voice against oppression of women and put them in a proper place of honour in society.鈥�
Fiction writer and essayist Sabiha Huq thinks that all the evil of that age in which women served as 鈥榮laves鈥� according to Nazrul鈥檚 poem 鈥楴ari鈥� still exist.
鈥榃omen must be aware that tradition and norms are shackles that society imposes on them quite unjustly,鈥� the writer says.
Shedding light on Nazrul鈥檚 verses regarding women鈥檚 enlightenment and empowerment have crossed the limits of time and have currency today, Sabiha adds, 鈥楽ome women submit to all injustices inflicted on them, some women have internalised patriarchy so deeply that they practice patriarchal oppression on other women without a blink of an eye.鈥�
Society has all the mechanisms ready for dehumanising women or bringing slur on women or imprisoning her spirits. It is true that even today women have closed doors on both sides, she says.
Sabiha also adds that domestic responsibilities should be equally divided between men and women and women must have equal rights to work outside of their domestic sphere, mentioning, 鈥楾hey must explore their possibilities and see the ways of the world. When women become aware of it, they will find routes to their intended destinations where they will enjoy equal rights as men.鈥�
鈥極f equality I sing鈥� is a leitmotif in much of Kazi Nazrul Islam鈥檚 poetry. And the question of equality is the most radical and most unresolved question in human history, as Nazrul鈥檚 own work seems to be suggesting, says theorist, critic, writer, poet and translator Azfar Hussain.
And it is in this context that Nazrul brings up the woman question, pointing to the age-old鈥攜et relevant鈥攆ormulation that the emancipation of humanity is not possible without the emancipation of women, he adds.
In this regard, he mentions, 鈥楬is famous poem called 鈥淣ari鈥� (Woman)鈥攄espite being written in a language that cannot fully range beyond certain male-centric tropes and tenors鈥攅nvisions a just society for women; while his poem 鈥淏arangana鈥�, in which he refers to a 鈥減rostitute鈥� as his mother, inaugurates a radical rupture with the dominant mode of thinking.鈥�
Pointing out Nazrul鈥檚 work explores various bold contexts and concerns regarding the woman question, he says, 鈥業n his short story 鈥淩akshushi鈥�, he even depicts a woman killing her husband, a significant event in Bangla fiction. And it is Nazrul who also shows that one can be a 鈥榬evolutionary鈥� and a rapist at the same time (in his novel Kuhelika). His novels further reveal the dehumanising violence of a patriarchal society against women, reducing them to objects and non-entities.鈥�
As a rebel journalist in Dhumketu, Nazrul also advocates women鈥檚 causes, mentions Azfar Hussain, concluding, 鈥業n short, his limitations notwithstanding, Nazrul鈥檚 concern with the woman question remains integral to his emancipatory consciousness as a revolutionary poet.鈥�
Poet-essayist and translator Razu Alauddin thinks that the emancipation of women is not possible until Kazi Nazrul Islam鈥檚 various writings on women鈥檚 issues are included in the textbook, as long as his songs, poems or essays written on women are widely spread among the wider readership.
鈥楨mancipation and dignity of women was a major theme of Nazrul. For that reason, he has written articles, poems and songs aimed at the self-awakening of women. No other Bengali poet was so vocal for women鈥檚 emancipation like him,鈥� says Razu Alauddin.
Razu also raises a question that we have come a long way from the time when Nazrul talked about women, but what has been the fundamental change in the social and political situation of women?
Referring the quote from Octavio Paz 鈥楾heir model has been primarily a masculine archetype, and women have had to adapt themselves to this mode; by masculinising herself, woman become deformed鈥�, he says, 鈥業t has been almost four decades since our country was ruled by women prime ministers. But what happened to the emancipation of women? The way women are harassed and discriminated in various ways in this country should be considered humiliating for the government.鈥�
He also thinks that in corrupt third world countries, the people suffer because of the mismanagement of governments. 鈥業n this regard, Nazrul set an unparalleled example of playing a political and social role. Because, he was not indifferent to society and politics.鈥櫬�
聽Fiction writer and translator聽Afsana Begum says whether it is about the time of Kazi Nazrul Islam or about recent times, the independent being of women that we refer to as women鈥檚 emancipation has never existed.
She also adds that the eternal journey of women towards the imagined emancipation has also never stopped, mentioning, 鈥楰azi Nazrul has only endeavoured to take the women鈥檚 emancipation movement a little further in his poems and songs.鈥�
Pointing out a verse of Kazi Nazrul Islam that everything that is great in the world, half must be credited to women, Afsana said, 鈥楿ntil today, no one else has said it like the poet. I would like to mention that the issue of rights is established in the declaration of the achievement, and we also realise that women have equal participation in all the successes of the world.鈥�
The writer also stresses that women are still fighting socially for the decision to give birth or freedom of the womb, saying, 鈥極ver the ages, women have been hindered in their own way of emancipation. And for the purpose of removing the obstacles, the poet have penned to show women the path of self-awakening, urging them to open the inner door.鈥�
By way of a summation, Afsana Begum concludes, 鈥楾oday鈥檚 women have woken up to a large extent in place of the introversion of the women鈥檚 society of these days. Nazrul has repeatedly taken up the pen with the aim of paving the way for women to move forward.鈥�
Poet and essayist Mohibul Aziz ponders that the main problems that bring about negative effects of women emancipation are the interdependent economic, social, and political factors.
Pointing out that Nazrul鈥檚 communist spirit is vital because he has included women in it, Mohibul Aziz says, 鈥楴azrul realised the power and position of women, which came in various forms in his literary works.聽 I would like to say that from where he spoke about women in communism, women were more of a minority than a minority.鈥�
The patriarchal problem we have is that we never make a revolution at home, he says, adding, 鈥榃e need to break out of the patriarchal circle by which we are used to seeing women.鈥�
He also stresses that we live in a system that assumes certain jobs are done by men. 鈥榃e also have to get out of this. In addition to removing patriarchy from us, the state must play a strong role for the complete emancipation of women,鈥� Mohibul Aziz urges.
Complete freedom is not possible for any human being鈥� neither for men nor for women, because none can live outside of society, says Sabiha Huq, concluding, 鈥楽ociety imposes certain rules for everyone, and so, men are also not free. A gender-neutral egalitarian society can ensure equal participation and rights, and women can significantly contribute to social development.鈥�