THE two-day national poetry festival, Jatiyo Kabita Utsav 2002, kicked off yesterday morning at the premises of Central Public Library in the city.

A grand rally was brought by renowned poets and cultural personalities of the country to mark the festival from the main venue at 11:00 in the morning. Poet Shamsur Rahman, the grand old man of our poetry, led the procession. The rally visited the graves of rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and artist Quamrul Hassan. On its way back the rally stopped at Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the martyrs of the Language Movement.

The festival, featuring poetry reading, seminar and exhibition of posters and news clipping, is a regular annual event, organised by Jatiya Kabita Parishad on the first and second day of February, since 1987.

Leading poets of the country Syed Shamsul Haq, Abul Hossain,

Mazharul Islam, Asad Chowdhury, Nirmalendu Goon, Lutfar Rahman Sarker, Rabiul Hussain, Samudra Gupta, Aslam Sani, Sajjad Qadir, Khaleda Edib Chowdhury, Habibullah Siraji, Golam Kibria, Mohammad Samad, Helal Hafiz and Rafiq Azad, among others, were present at the first session of the two-day affair.

Raising of the national flag, songs on Ekushey were other activities of the day. An obituary note was read out in memory of the cultural personalities who passed away within the 12 months of March 2001 and January 2002.

In the evening, two sessions of poetry reading was held participated by young as well as veteran

poets of the country. Eminent personalities Habibullah Siraji and Ramendu Majumder presided over the sessions.

Kaal-er Jatra-ey Kabita-r Jayoddhoni meaning Triumph of Poetry in the Passage of Time is this years slogan of the festival.

The festival greeted six guests poets from West Bengal. They are

Korobi Deb Burman, Mridul Das Gupta, Chitra Lahiri, Sebonti Ghose, Srijat and Panchali Deb Burman

Like in other years, the current version of the festival has given bright opportunity to several hundred poets from across the country of deliverance of speech and recitation of poems in front of enthusiastic

audience and guests from home and abroad. Most of the compositions have been written in spirit of the Martyrs of Language Movement of 1952 and the martyred freedom fighters of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

The concept of the poetry festival was shaped by literary personalities of the country in the mid-80's during the autocratic regime of the military rule in Bangladesh. Every version of the festival carried a particular theme and those focussed mainly on ideas and statements against all sorts of issues that gave rise to terrorism, comm-unalism, violence and fundamentalism.

'Our chief purpose of holding this poetry festival lies in the fact of raising voice against all sorts of communal and autocratic mismanagement in the society', observed Belal Chowdhury, President of the Parishad.

The current festival has had a special significance in observance as it coincided with the 50th year of

our Language Movement. Incidents of the struggling days of 1952 have always played a key role in pumping up the emotional spirit of the poets.

'This festival has become a national event. We want to spread the spirit of the festival among the younger generation, said Poet Rabiul Hussain, convenor of the festival. 'The best part of the whole affair is the congregation of poetry lovers irrespective of class, creed or quarter. There is no doubt that the common people have started realis-

ing the importance communal harmony', added Hussain.

On the closing day today there will seminars on 'Ekushey February Anthology Edited by Hassan Hafizur Rahman and another on Our Poetry: 50th Anniversary of Language Movement at 11:00 in the morning at the same venue.

Curtain will come down on the festival with poetry reading, award giving ceremony and musical soiree in the evening.