Poet Daud Haider passes away in exile in Germany

Poet Daud Haider, famed for his poem "Jonmoi Amar Ajonmo Paap," passed away at the age of 73 on Saturday night at a retirement home in Berlin, Germany.

His niece Shawonti Haider, an associate professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University, confirmed this to media, stating, “Uncle died at 9:20pm local time.”

Daud, a lifelong bachelor, had been struggling with various health issues. In December of the previous year, he fell down the stairs at his Berlin home and suffered a head injury. He was admitted to the ICU and received medical treatment. Although he eventually returned home after his hospital stay, he was never able to resume his normal routine.

Daud was born on February 21, 1952, in Pabna. A poet, author, and journalist, he gained attention when his poem "Kalo Shurjer Kalo Jyosnai Kalo Bonnyai" was published in Dainik Sangbad on February 24, 1974. The poem led to accusations of "hurting religious sentiments," sparking a wave of protests against him. As a result, he was arrested by the police on March 11 of the same year.

The poet was eventually released on May 20 that year, but the then government could not provide him security. The next day he fled to Kolkata on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight almost empty-handed.

Daud wrote that he had carried only Tk 0.60, two books of poetry, a pair of shirts, pants, a pair of slippers and a toothbrush with him. “I had no options. The extremists would have killed me. Maybe the government wanted me dead as well,” he wrote.

After leaving the country in 1974, Daud spent several years in Kolkata before moving to Germany in 1987, where he has lived ever since.