Nazrul lovers pay last respects to veteran musician Sudhin Das

Nazrul song artistes and researchers have mourned the death of veteran musician Sudhin Das.

The Ekushey Padak-winning singer passed away at the Apollo Hospital in Dhaka at 8:20pm on Tuesday due to old-age complications.

His relatives, well-wishers, followers and students, many of whom are renowned Nazrul singers, paid their last respects to Das at Nazrul Institute in Dhanmondi on Thursday.

His mortal remains were first taken to his residence in Mirpur and then to the institute around 10am.

His daughter Mitu Suparna Das and son-in-law Hasan Mahmud Swapan, Nazrul Institute Chairman Professor Emeritus Rafiqul Islam and Nazrul Institute Executive Director Abdur Razzaque Bhuiyan were present.

Renowned Nazrul singers Azad Rahman, Fatema-Tuj-Johora, Ferdous Ara, Yasmin Mushtari, Bulbul Mahalanabish and Salahuddin Ahmed also came to pay their last respects.

Prof Rafiqul said Das played a pivotal role in preserving the actual notes of Nazrul songs. He initially sang songs of Rabindranath Tagore and Atulprasad Sen but later continued with Nazul songs only, said the veteran Nazrul researcher.

“Das worked till his last breath to preserve the actual tones of Nazrul songs from the ancient gramophone records. He took a lead on this,” he said.

The fans of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam will always remain grateful to Das, he said.

“He fought against the distortion of Nazrul’s actual tunes throughout his life,” said Sudhin Das’s son-in-law Hasan Mahmud Swapan.

“Now we have the duty to save the songs following his path.”

Singer Fatema-Tuj-Johora recalled Das’s friendly yet deep relationship with people.

“He is like a banyan tree. He produced easy to follow notes from the ancient records,” she said.

Singer Shaheen Samad, a student of Das, said: “His contributions to Nazrul songs and research are unparalleled. His death is an irreparable loss.”

A memorial meeting was held at the institute later in the day.

The body was later taken to the Central Shaheed Minar where people from all walks of life paid tributes.

He will be cremated at Postogola Crematorium.

Born in Comilla town's Talpukur in 1930, Sudhin Das immersed himself in music during his graduation.

He enrolled as a regular Nazrul Sangeet performer at Pakistan Betar in 1948.

After the death of Kazi Nazrul Islam, he started setting down the original notations of Nazrul's songs from gramophone records with the help of his wife Neelima Das, who is also a prominent Nazrul Sangeet artiste.

The Nazrul Academy published the first book with the original notations of 25 Nazrul Sangeet in 1985. Later, Nazrul Institute published 33 more books.

His only son famed guitarist Niloy Das died of cardiac failure in 2006.