Poets and writers of Barishal and Jhalakati on Saturday urged the authorities concerned to take effective initiatives to preserve the ancestral home and memorials of poet Kamini Roy located at Basanda village in Jhalakati.
More than 50 poets and writers said that steps should be taken at the national level to preserve the poet’s legacy.
They also demanded the establishment of a museum along with the construction of a memorial pillar at the poet’s birthplace.
Apurba Gautam, the organiser of the Progressive Writers Association, said that the memory of the poet was destroyed.
‘Once, there was a single-storey building, a bathing ghatla, and a good number of old buildings, which have been demolished and new houses have been built here,’ he mentioned.
Among others, poets and writers, including Najmul Hossain Akash, Asma Chowdhury, Debashish Halder, Joynal Abedin, Shobhan Karmakar Krishna, Piyush Banerjee, Saidul Haque Suman, Al Amin Baklai, Moazzem Hossain Manik, Bahauddin Golap, Sajal Mahmud Minti Rani Das, Abid Hasan, Anita Pandey, Utpal Chakraborty, Abdur Rahman, Tarun Chakraborty and artist Bimal Chakraborty spoke at the programme.
Born on October 12, 1864 at Basanda of Jhalakati, poet and social worker Kamini Roy took her cue from her fellow student at Bethune School Abala Bose, who went on to become a renowned social worker and feminist.
She was involved in cultural and social welfare activities, especially women’s welfare. She was a member of the Female Labour Investigation Commission, president of the literary section of the Bengal Literary Conference in 1930, and vice president of the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad in 1932-33 session.
Her collection of poems ‘Alo o Chhaya’ was published in 1889 with an introduction by Hemchandra Banerjee.
Her other literary works include Nirmalya, Pauraniki, Dharmaputra, Malya o Nirmalya, Balika Shikshar Adarsha, Thakurmar Chithi, Dip o Dhup and Jibanpathe.
In recognition of her contribution to Bangla literature, she was awarded the Jagattarini Padak in 1929 by Calcutta University.
Kamini Roy passed away on September 17, 1933.
