9 Oct 2004
The Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia
invites you to
A Forum
Despair and Hope: Crisis in Bangladesh?
Central Square Cambridge Public Library
Lewis Conference Room
Saturday October 9th, 3-5pm
An attack by grenades on a densely populated mass rally in Dhaka in August of this year left 20 dead and over 200 maimed. This atrocity follows many others directed against poets, political activists and intellectuals. Yet Bangladesh has a proud history of diversity, harmony and cultural openness, such as that exemplified in the poetry of Kazi Nazrul Islam and others. What has changed and why?
Please come to discuss these questions as we mark the 28th death anniversary of Kazi Nazrul Islam. This is an open forum where the focus will be on your participation, with poetry recitations and brief presentations by Sajed Kamal, Bamandas Basu, Nurul Kabir.
Sajed Kamal, a poet and solar energy expert, has translated many works of Kazi Nazrul Islam. He will speak to us about Kazi Nazrul Islam and Bangladesh today. Rosie Kamal has given many readings of Bengali poetry in English translation in Boston and elsewhere. Bamandas Basu, physicist and long term resident in the Boston area, will review the genesis of religious extremism in Bangladesh. Nurul Kabir is an activist with the Bangladesh Environmental Movement and the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia and he will address the role of Civil Society in the Bangladesh Environmental Movement.