Durgapur airport to be named after poet Kazi Nazrul Islam

KOLKATA: West Bengal government has proposed to name the airport coming up near steel city Durgapur in Burdwan district after rebel Bengali poet KaziNazrul Islam.

"We have already proposed to name the upcoming airport near Durgapur as Kazi Nazrul Islam International Airport," Banerjee said in a Facebook post on the occasion of the poet's 114th birth anniversary today.

"Kobi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh, is our pride and our asset," the chief minister said.

"The spirit of Kobi Nazrul and his nationalistic creations live on and on to inspire us and generations to come...," she said.

She said that in honour of the poet, the state government has set up the Kazi Nazrul Islam Academy to preserve his works and a Kazi Nazrul Islam University is being set up at Churulia in Asansol where post graduate courses would start from the academic year 2013-14.

The birth anniversary of the poet is being observed by the state government with programmes till May 27 at Rabindra Sadan, Sisir Mancha and Rabindrasadan Muktamancha.

The Chief Minister was present at the programme at Nazrul Mancha in south Kolkata.