Memorial complex honouring Kangal Harinath in the offing

A memorial for Kangal Harinath. Photo: STAR

Local administration has initiated the construction of a memorial complex at Kangal Kutir, abode of Kangal Harinath in Kumarkhali in Kushtia.
Kushtia Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nepur Ahmed during a programme on the occasion of Harinath's 175th birth anniversary visited the site at Kundupara in Kumarkhali upazila and announced his intention to construct a memorial complex in memory of Kangal Harinath.
As part of the initiative, Kumarkhali upazila administration met with two ancestors of Kangal Harinath and noted members of the civil society. Ashok Majumdar and Ratan Majumdar -- descendents of Harinath -- agreed to hand over the land necessary for construction of the complex.
A committee called 'Kangal Harinath Smriti Trust' has also been formed. Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Kumarkhali, M. Nuruzzaman has been made the convenor of the trust, while journalist Sohel Habib is the member secretary. Different sections of people in the upazila have also been included in the trust.
According to sources, the historical Mathuranath Press where Harinath published Grambarta Prokashika would also be preserved.
This initiative has been welcomed by the locales.
Kangal Harinath (1833-1896) was one of the few dedicated individuals who relentlessly struggled to relieve the sorrows of the masses oppressed under the then zamindari system through his writings.
Harinath was a pioneer in journalism in the grassroots level in undivided British India. He first published a newspaper called Sangbad Prabhakar in 1854. Then he published Grambarta Prokashika in 1860, first a monthly, then fortnightly and afterwards as a weekly magazine.
Kangal Harinath was a social activist, a journalist, a teacher, a reformer as well as a composer of folk songs.
He boldly wrote against the oppression of the then zamidars on Bengali farmers. The zamidars unleashed a reign of torture on the farmers as they refused to cultivate "neel" (indigo). For his stance on the issue, Kangal Harinath was often confronted and tortured by the zamidars.