A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: Rafiqul Hossain, poet, playwright, and director from Bokakhat, who, since the late 1970s, had been ideologically associated with the progressive stream of Assamese poetry and who devoted his entire life to speaking of the dispossessed, the destitute, and the deprived, passed away on Saturday night at 10:30 pm at GMCH, Guwahati. With his death, Bokakhat and the whole of Assam were plunged into mourning. On February 1, the eminent poet suddenly fell ill at a hotel in Morigaon. He was immediately taken to Guwahati for advanced treatment. According to doctors, he suffered a brain haemorrhage due to high blood pressure.
On Sunday morning, after his mortal remains reached his residence at his birthplace Bokakhat, an atmosphere of deep grief prevailed across the town. A procession was taken from his home to the Bokakhat Natya Mandir premises, where hundreds of people and various organizations from different parts of Assam gathered to pay their last respects. The Golaghat district administration and the Bokakhat sub-divisional administration accorded him a state-honoured farewell at the Bokakhat Natya Mandir.
At the condolence meeting held on the occasion, Soneswar Narah, Joint Secretary of the Indian People’s Theatre Association and Chief Editor of Prayas Study Circle, demanded on behalf of Assam’s intellectual and cultural community that Rafiqul Hossain be posthumously awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Born in Bokakhat in 1954, the eminent poet-playwright-director carved a distinct place in progressive Assamese poetry after the publication of his first poetry collection ‘Sharbidho Akash’ in 1984, which became a powerful language of protest.
Beyond poetry, he made a significant contribution to Assamese stage theatre and dramatic literature as a playwright and director. Beginning his theatrical journey with the play Ajanma in 1981–82, he made a notable contribution to Assamese drama with his 1995 play collection Dhowa–Daibaki–Jalashay, followed by others.
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