Kolkata: Terming Bangladeshi poet Kazi Nazrul Islam as a “real Hindu”, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to take his revolutionary poems and ideology to the masses in West Bengal.
Nazrul’s 118th birth anniversary was celebrated in shakhas on Wednesday, where it was decided that small community based events would be organized across the state to create awareness about his writing.
Speaking to News18, Jishnu Basu, RSS’s General Secretary in South Bengal, said, “Most people think that Hindu is all about practicing a religion. It is unfortunate that people still believe that we promote Hinduism as a part of our religious commitment. Hinduism is all about way of life. Anyone in this country who is a nationalist, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, is a Hindu.”
On Nazrul, he said his birth anniversary was celebrated every year.
“We celebrate his birthday every year, on a small scale, across the state. I personally feel that kobi (poet) Nazrul was more Indian than me. He was jailed by the British for raising bharat mata ki jai slogans. One should not speculate too much in to us celebrating his birth anniversary.”
The decision to highlight Nazrul’s work in Bengal was taken in January, three months before the RSS’s Annual General Body meeting in Coimbatore.
“Recently, his work was published by us in Bangla and we will soon release the book in Hindi by October,” Basu said. Once the book is released, RSS is planning to organize cultural events across Bengal on Nazrul.
“We have been celebrating Nazrul’s birthday for years now, but it’s being noticed only now. Clearly, there is a change in political climate in Bengal,” said another RSS functionary, on condition of anonymity.
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