Begum Sufia Kamal’s 109th birth anniv being celebrated

The 109th birth anniversary of poet Begum Sufia Kamal is being observed on Saturday.

Born on June 20, 1911, Sufia Kamal was a pioneer in the movement for women emancipation. She was instrumental in naming the first women's dormitory of Dhaka University as Rokeya Hall.

During the Liberation War, she helped women hurt during the war and campaigned for bringing Pakistani war criminals to justice, reports UNB.

She was awarded the Bangla Academy Award for Literature (1962), Lenin Centenary Jubilee Medal (1970) from the Soviet Union, Ekushey Padak (1976), Czechoslovakia Medal (1986), Jatiya Kabita Parishad Award (1995), Begum Rokeya Medal (1996), Deshbandhu CR Das Gold Medal (1996) and Independence Award (1997) for her works.

Poet Sufia Kamal died on November 20, 1999.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued a message on the eve of poet Sufia Kamal’s 109th birthday.

In the message, Sheikh Hasina paid profound respect to memories of the poet saying, on the one hand, she (Sufia) was a portrait of a traditional Bengali woman and on the other, she played an uncompromising and strong role in every movement in Bangladesh.

The thoughts of Begum Rokeya, the pioneer of woman renaissance, had a longstanding impact on her life. Dhaka University’s first female dormitory was named after Begum Rokeya as per the demand of Sufia Kamal, she said.