Expatriates pay last respects to Bangladeshi poet Shahid Qadri in New York

Bangladeshi expatriates have paid their last respects to Ekushey Padak winning poet Shahid Qadri in New York.

Qadri, one of the leading contemporary Bengali poets, died there at the age of 74 at 7am on Sunday local time.
 
He breathed his last in North Shore University Hospital where he was admitted with high blood pressure and fever a week ago.
 
Visitors placed flowers on his coffin during his Namaz-e-Janaza held at the Jamaica Muslim Centre in Queens, New York in the afternoon.
 
Qadri’s body will be sent for Bangladesh on Monday, said Consul General of Bangladesh in New York Shameem Ahsan.
 
He said: “The flight will reach Dhaka via Dubai on Wednesday with poet’s son Adnan while his wife will fly in another flight.”
 
Bangladesh government will bear all the expenses for transportation and burial following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s nod, Ahsan said.
 
Earlier Neera Qadri, wife of the late poet told bdnews24.com that his body would be taken back to Bangladesh following his wish.
 
Qadri, the poet of patriotism, cosmopolitanism and universalism, was suffering from kidney complications for more than a decade. He had been in a wheel chair for the last five years.
 
One of the prominent poets of post-1947 Bengal literary world, Shahid Qadri brought in fresh air by introducing urbanism and a sense of modernity in the use of urban-life-related diction. 
 
While his poetry deals with nature and urbanity, it delves deep into the conflicts and the sense of alienation pervading our modern life. For his poetry, he was awarded the Bangla Academy Award in 1973.
 
He received the Ekushey Padak for his contribution to language and literature in 2011.
  
Famous for books such as Uttaradhikar (Inheritance), Tomake Obhibadon Priyatama (Salute to You, Dearest), Prem Biraha Bhalobasar Kabita (Poems of Love and Separation), Kothao Kono Krondon Nei  (Weepings Nowhere), Amar Chumbangullo Pouchhiye Dio (Please, Convey My Kisses), Qadri left Bangladesh in 1978.
 
After visiting Germany and England, he settled in the US.