“The Silver Jubilee Festival of ‘Chihno’s 2025” was celebrated at University of Rajshahi (RU). The festival began at 10 AM on Saturday, January 18, at the Shahid Sukhranjan Samaddar Student-Teacher Cultural Center (TSCC) of the university.
During the inauguration, the national flag, university flag, and ‘Chihno’ flag were hoisted. The event started with a welcome gathering and a breakfast session. Following this, poet Zulfiqar Matin, the chief guest, delivered the inaugural speech.
He said,
During the inauguration, the national flag, university flag, and ‘Chihno’ flag were hoisted. The event started with a welcome gathering and a breakfast session. Following this, poet Zulfiqar Matin, the chief guest, delivered the inaugural speech.
He said,
“Today marks the 25th anniversary of ‘Chihno,’ and we are beginning a year-long celebration of its silver jubilee. A quarter of the 21st century has passed, and in this way, ‘Chihno’ will remain intertwined with people’s lives in the fields of art and literature. We can never separate art and literature from our lives.”
In his welcoming speech, Professor Shahid Iqbal, the head of ‘Chihno,’ stated,
“This is our 25-year journey. This is not the place for evaluating or explaining what we have achieved. ‘Chihno’ is a platform for reflecting on the lives we live, our country, nation, society, and our creative thoughts. Today marks a milestone for the nation. Through writing, creativity, and literature, we aim to create an intellectual nation and people. Moreover, we wish to celebrate a culture of living a healthy and beautiful life. We want everyone to be a part of this celebration.”
The first session of the event took place from 11:30 AM to 1 PM. The theme of the first session was “The Writer’s Story: The Harsh Sounds of Clay and Blood.” The session was moderated by Sheikh Najmul Hasan, who started the session with a welcome speech.
The guests and speakers of the first session were Akimun Rahman, Ahmad Bashir, Sharif Atique-Uz-Zaman, Pavel Chowdhury, Abu Hena Mustafa Enam, Mozafar Hossain, and Shibli Moktadir. The first session ended with the presentation of crests to honor the guests.
The second session of the event took place from 2:30 PM to 4 PM. The theme of this session was “The Poet’s Story: The Poet’s Eternal Aspiration.” This session was moderated by Abul Fazl. The guests and speakers in the second session included Zillur Rahman, Golam Kibria Pinu, Syed Habib, Yusuf Muhammad, Kumar Deep, Shamim Hossain, and Ahmed Mehedi Hasan Neel.
The third session of the event took place from 4 PM to 5 PM. The theme of this session was “25 Years of Chihno: How Much Further?” The session was moderated by Najmul Hasan. The speakers in the third session included Raja Sahidul Aslam, Monirul Monir, Sabbir Reza, Saddam Hussain, Suman Sikdar, Rofique Sani, and Suman Acharya.
It is worth mentioning that ‘Chihno’ was first published in April 2001 under the editorship of Professor Shahid Iqbal from the Department of Bengali at Rajshahi University. The publication embraced the ethos of the small magazine movement. With the slogan “Expansion of the Mind, Freedom of Thought,” the magazine has been consistently published for almost two decades, despite various challenges.
