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{{Short description|Bangladeshi poet, editor and writer}}
{{Cleanup lang|date=July 2021}}{{Infobox person
| name = Rafiq Azad
| image = Rafiq Azad (1941 - 2016).jpg
| alt = 
| caption =
| native_name = রফিক আজাদ
| birth_name = Rafiqul Islam Khan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|02|14}}
| birth_place = [[Tangail]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|03|12|1941|02|14}}
| death_place = [[Dhaka]], Bangladesh
| nationality = Bangladeshi
| alma_mater = [[University of Dhaka]]
| occupation = Poet, literary editor
| years_active = 1973–2016
| known_for =Patriotic, romantic and protest poems
| notable_works =Chuniya Amar Arcadia
| movement = Realism, Modernism, Romanticism
| awards = Bangla Academy Award, Ekushey Padak
}}

'''Rafiq Azad''' (born '''Rafiqul Islam Khan'''; February 14, 1941 – March 12, 2016) was a Bangladeshi poet, editor and writer. He is credited with 45 collections of poetry including ''Prakriti O Premer Kabita, Asambhaber Paye, Sahasra Sundar, Haturir Nichae Jiban, Khub Beshi Durea Noy, Khamakaro Bahaman Hey Udar Amiyo Batas'' and others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://newagebd.net/210911/poets-and-peers-mourn-rafiq-azads-death/|title=Poets and peers mourn Rafiq Azad's death |website=New Age|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref> He is most well known for his poem ''"[[Bhat De Haramzada, Noile Manchitro Khabo|Bhaat De Haramjada]]"'' (''Give me food, bastard'') which was written during the [[Bangladesh famine of 1974|famine of 1974]]. The poet participated in the war against the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Liberation War]] and was awarded ‘Notable Freedom Fighter Award” in 1997. He received [[Bangla Academy Literary Award]] in 1984 and national award [[Ekushey Padak]] in 2013, for his contribution to [[Bengali language|Bangla language]] and literature.

==Early life and education==
Azad was born on February 14, 1941, in the remote village of Guni in Tangail district, a central region of Bangladesh.<ref name="rest" /> He was the youngest of three children of Salimuddin Khan and Rabeya Khan.<ref name="dt12Mar2016" /> He earned his bachelor's and master's in Bengali literature from [[University of Dhaka]] in 1965 and 1967, respectively.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

==Career==

===Literary===
Azad was widely regarded as one of the most prolific young poets in the post-[[Liberation War of Bangladesh|Liberation War]] period. He had 45 books to his credit, including an autobiography.<ref name="Dhaka Tribune">{{Cite news |title=Poet Rafiq Azad dies |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/03/12/poet-rafiq-azad-dies/ |newspaper=Dhaka Tribune |date=12 March 2016 |access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref> His first book of poetry, ''Ashombhober Paye'', was published in 1973. Since then, he had experimented with language and poetic form, where surrealistic approach was conspicuous.

He described himself as a 'lover of humans, nature and romance'.<ref name="dt12Mar2016">{{Cite news |title=In memory of Rafiq Azad |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/2016/03/12/in-memory-of-rafiq-azad/ |newspaper=Dhaka Tribune |date=12 March 2016 |access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref> He depicted love, romance, poverty, sufferings, injustice, urban and rural life through his poems. Many of his love poems, including ''‘He Doroja’'' and ''‘Bhalobashar Shonga’''(Definition of Love), have been used and quoted many times in movies, TV dramas and other media in Bangladesh.<ref name="na13Mar2016">{{Cite web|url=http://newagebd.net/211099/poet-rafiq-azad-dies/|title=Poet Rafiq Azad dies |website=New Age|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-03-18}}</ref> He became widely famous when his controversial poem “''Bhaat De Haramjada''” was published in 1974. At the time the country was going through its worst [[Bangladesh famine of 1974|famine]]. It was an angry poem about a starving man lashing out in impotent rage- ''“[[Bhat De Haramzada, Noile Manchitro Khabo]]” (“give me food, bastard! Or I will engulf your map, your geography!”)''.<ref name="Goodbye Rafiq bhai">{{Cite web|url=http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2016/03/12/goodbye-rafiq-bhai/|title=Goodbye Rafiq bhai|website=The Opinion Pages|access-date=2016-03-18}}</ref> The indication was -if the newly independent country cannot even feed its own people, then what good is the liberation? The poet quickly became the center of a controversy. The [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman|Sheikh Mujib]] administration found the poem to be incendiary and an attack on the ruling party, while his readership hailed it as a rebellious and courageous outburst. In an attempt to settle the debate, Azad explained to the administration, by writing a long analysis of how his poem only reflected the great literary tradition of Bengal and the poem intended no animosity toward the government.<ref name="Goodbye Rafiq bhai"/>

=== Professional ===
Throughout his professional life, spanning 50 years, Azad had many roles. He began his career as a lecturer in Kagmari College (now Govt. Maulna Mohammad Ali College) in Tangail in the late 1960s. The year 1971, changed the course of the poet's life, as he traded his pen with a wooden rifle. After [[Operation Searchlight|March 25th crackdown]] by Pakistani Military, Azad joined [[Kader Siddique]]’s ‘Kaderia Bahini’, a civilian guerrilla force, to fight against the occupying army in the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Liberation War]]. He soon received the necessary arms and equipment from the treasury, provided by then finance secretary Khondokar Asaduzzaman.

He joined [[Bangla Academy]] in 1972 and worked there until 1984, as the executive editor of ''Uttaradhikar'', a monthly magazine.<ref name="dt12Mar2016" /> He was also the editor of ''Robbaar'', another popular weekly in 1980s. Azad was the director of National Book Center (''Jatiyo Grontho Kendro'') of Bangladesh for many years. He briefly served as the deputy general manager of BJMC ([[Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation]]). Azad returned to [[Bangla Academy]] in 1995, for a brief period, to help assist the ‘Young Writers Project’, taking up the role of poetics instructor.<ref name="na13Mar2016" /> Later he went back to teaching and became a visiting professor of literature at [[Jahangirnagar University]] in Savar. In the recent years, he had been working in a daily called ''[[Amader Shomoy]]''.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

== Personal life and death ==
Azad married Adila Bakul in 1969{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} and together they had four children - Lopa, Rahul, Deepita and Rajeev. In 1983, the couple separated{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} and later that year he married Dilara Hafiz. Together they had two sons - Ovinna and Obyoy. Azad suffered a stroke in January 2016 and remained hospitalized for almost 8 weeks. He died on March 12, 2016, in Dhaka. His body was entombed in Martyred Intellectuals' Cemetery in Mirpur.<ref name="rest">{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/city/nation-pays-tribute-rafiq-azad-791515|title=Nation pays tribute to Rafiq Azad|date=March 15, 2016|newspaper=The Daily Star|access-date=March 15, 2022}}</ref>

==Books==
* ''Asombhaber Payae''
* ''Semabadha Jalae, Simito Shobuja''
* ''Ekjibona''
* ''Haturier Nichae Jibon''
* ''Porikirno Panchala Amer Swadesh''
* ''Khub Bashi Durea Nay''
* ''Khamakaro Bahoman Hay Udar Omiyo Batas''
* ''Karo Ashuro Pat''
* ''Pagolar Thekay Pramikar Chiti''
* ''Apar Arannya''
* ''Moulobir Mon Bholo Nay''
* ''Priyo Shareegulo''
* ''Poems on Love Environment and Other Difficulties''<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Poems-Love-Environment-Other-Difficulties/dp/0893040673 Poems on Love Environment and Other Difficulties, 2008, translated by Kaiser Haq, Kabir Chowdhury, Hassanal Abdullah, K Ashraf Hossain, Zakeria Shirazi]</ref>

==Awards==
* Kobitalap Award (1979)
* [[Alaol]] Literary Award (1981)
* [[Bangla Academy Literary Award]] (1984)
* Suhreed Literary Award (1989)
* Poet Ahsan Habib Award (1991)
* Poet Hasan Hafizur Rahman Award (1996)
* Notable Freedom Fighter Award (1997)
* [[Ekushey Padak]] (2013)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/02/07/13-picked-for-ekushey-padak1 |title=13 picked for Ekushey Padak |publisher=bdnews24.com |date=2013-02-07 |access-date=2013-02-08}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azad, Rafiq}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi male poets]]
[[Category:Recipients of Bangla Academy Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Ekushey Padak]]
[[Category:University of Dhaka alumni]]
[[Category:Jahangirnagar University faculty]]
[[Category:Burials at Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard]]
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi male writers]]

Rafiq Azad - Revision history

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