Ghazal maestro Firoza Begum passes away

, Sept 10: Eminent Ghazal and Nazrul Sangeet vocalist Firoza Begum passed away at the age of 84 on Tuesday at 8:30 pm in Dhaka. Admitted at the Apollo hospitals here, she complained of kidney problems and heart complications.

Her sons and musicians Hamin and Shafin Ahmed were with her at the hospital at the time of death.

Winner of the Independence Day Award and Chairman of the Nazrul institute Begum had started her career at a ripe age of 12. She immediately claimed to fame, impressing her Guru Nazrul himself.

Being a Muslim girl, her entry into the world of music was an inspiration for many women from her community. She has worked with some of the most popular artists of her time including Talat Mahmud and also lent her voice to HMV.

Firoza married Kamal Dasgupta in 1956, who composed almost a third of the national poet's songs. However, after he passed away in 1974, she married musician Mansur Ahmed.

Born in Gopalganj on July 28, 1930 to the zamindars of Ratail Ghonaparha, she was also known for her Rabindra sangeet and Adhunik renderings.

Her son claims that her remains would be taken to her Indira Road home from where she will be shifted to the Central Shaheed Minar at 2pm todayfor people to pay their respects until 4pm.

A Namaj-e-Janaza will be held in the afternoon at the Azad Mosque in Gulshan and Firoza Begum will be laid to rest at the Banani graveyard.

OneIndia News