Currently in turmoil which has been instigated by extreme religious and ideological differences, the world requires the message of humanity that exists in Lalon Shah Fakir's songs and poetry, said discussants at a seminar yesterday afternoon.

"Many things he said has contemporary values. The most important is his belief that humankind is one," said Muchkund Dubey, a former Indian foreign secretary, on the relevance of Lalon in the present world and more so in the subcontinent.

The discussion, "Pursuit of Lalon Fakir", was organised by the daily Prothom Alo at Bengal Shilpalaya in the capital's Dhanmondi. 

Dubey, also a former high commissioner to Bangladesh of 1979 to 1982, came to the country recently to work with Lalon researcher Prof Abul Ahsan Chowdhury on translating Lalon's poetry into Hindi.

Currently president of the Council for Social Development, India, Dubey has translated 100 poetry of the saint bard into Hindi for a book which would be published by Sahitya Akademy, Indian's national academy for promotion of literary works, in 24 Indian languages and English.

"In my opinion, Lalon Shah Fakir is one of the greatest saint poets of undivided India," he said.

Dubey assured of doing his best to make Lalon widely known so that, like Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi, Lalon's works could claim their own place in bookshops and libraries all around the world. 

He spoke about the beauty and literary value of Lalon's poetry and the simplicity of his metaphors.

"He picked up the language from the soil, from the village, from the people and turned them into jewels," he said, citing examples from Lalon's works including "Milon Hobay Koto Diney" and "Bedheche Emono Ghor".

Dubey noted that despite being illiterate, Lalon's knowledge on the holy books of Islam and Hinduism was immaculate. He said for his translations, he selected songs based on different philosophies including Vaishnavism, Islam and Tantra.

"Lalon was both a spiritual person and a rebel," said Prof Abul Ahsan, adding how the bard fought against extremism, communalism and social discrimination.  Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan said the idea of modern society which is democratic, non-communal and humane comes from the folk poets whose songs spoke of material existence and attached the highest significance to human beings.

Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman introduced Dubey, citing that the Indian scholar, who also taught international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, also translated about 40 of poet Shamsur Rahman's works. 

Dubey also hopes to publish Hindi translations of Rahman's poetry.  The programme started with two Lalon songs, rendered by Aziz Abdur Rahman, who teaches Lalon's music at Shanto Mariam Foundation, Kushtia