‘Farida’s legacy goes beyond art’

City Desk :

Poet and writer Farhad Mazhar has said that it would be an understatement to refer to Farida Parveen merely as an artist.

Her legacy, he said, lies not only in her music but in her profound role in popularising the philosophy and songs of Fakir Lalon Shah-not just across Bangladesh, but throughout the subcontinent and even globally.

He was talking to reporters before namaz-e-janaza of legendary Lalon singer Farida Parveen at the Kushtia Municipal Graveyard on Sunday night.

“Farida Parveen has created a movement,” he said. “It is from this movement that many of us have drawn inspiration and grown,” he said.

“We genuinely aspire to develop Kushtia as a cultural capital-one that could become the richest cultural city in the entire subcontinent. Farida Parveen laid the very foundation for that vision,” Mazhar said.

Farida Parveen, widely regarded as ‘the Queen of Lalon song’, passed away at the Universal Medical College Hospital, Mohakhali, on Saturday night. She was 71.

Farida Parveen had been on life support since Wednesday, suffering from multi-organ failures. Medical boards had been formed, and physicians tried their best to stabilize her condition but were unable to do so.

The renowned artist had long battled kidney complications alongside other health issues. She was admitted to the hospital on September 2 for routine dialysis, but her condition worsened, prompting a transfer to the ICU.

Parveen had been admitted to the ICU four times over the past six months due to recurring health complications. Both of her kidneys had stopped functioning recently, and her condition became critical due to multi-organ failure, according to her family.