India, Bangladesh border troopers observe Tagore's 71st death anniversary

South Dinajpur (West Bengal), Aug.9 (ANI): Paramilitary personnel of both India and Bangladesh observed the 71st death anniversary of Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore near the zero-line area of the border that separates the two countries in the sub-district of Hakimpur in Dinajpur, West Bengal earlier this week.

A cultural programme was organized on the occasion, and people from both sides of the border were allowed to end without any restrictions.

Personnel of the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and the Border Security Force (BSF) of India along with policemen of both countries celebrated the anniversary. Artistes from both sides also took part in the programme in a spirit of bilateral bonhomie.

The Company Commandant of the BGB in Dinajpur District, Kursheed Alam said: " Our main objective is to establish better relations with India."

A sapling was also planted on the border, using the soil and water collected from 22 places and rivers of these countries.

Alam added that the gathering of nationals of both countries was momentous.

"We have come here spread awareness about Rabindranath Tagore's aim to make the world united," said Alam.

Tagore was the first non-European English writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for Gitanjali in 1913.

Writing both in his native Bengali and in English, he achieved global fame as a poet, novelist, playwright, composer and an artist.

Tagore was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi and participated in India's freedom struggle.

Both India and Bangladesh adapted his compositions to their national anthems, the only instance of a person having scripted the national anthems of two countries.

The British government granted a knighthood to him in 1915, but he gave it up as a mark of protest against their colonial policies in India.

Tagore was born in India on May 7, 1861 and died on August 8, 1941. (ANI)