National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam's birth anniversary was celebrated worldwide on May 25, with tributes pouring in from individuals, organisations and corporates alike.

However, one "tribute" on telecom giant Robi Axiata Limited's Facebook page angered many, including Kazi Nazrul Islam's family.

In a post commemorating the national poet, the picture that they used was actually of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Khilkhil Kazi, the national poet's granddaughter, told The Daily Star yesterday that she is going to file a defamation suit against the telecom company for their "ignorance".

"I refuse to believe that this was a simple mix-up," she said. "Whichever agency or individual was involved in making the post not only had to be unaware of both our national poet and Rabindranath Tagore, but the post had to be approved by officials of Robi who were in charge of the page. This is insulting to both legendary figures in Bangla literature."

Khilkhil, a noted singer and organiser, said even the song lyric used in the post had errors in it. "This is a serious crime, and I will file a defamation case against Robi Axiata Limited," she said, adding that she had a meeting with her lawyer later that day to discuss the issue further.

The singer also expressed anguish at telecom companies profiting by using Kazi Nazrul Islam's work without paying royalty.

"None of these telecom companies pay any kind of royalty to our family, even though they have been using his work for years."

Even though the telecom company removed the post from their social media, screenshots of it had already gone viral. However, the company and its affiliated agencies are allegedly working towards silencing the scandal.

"People have contacted my niece, Zoya, and her office and told her to remove the post that she made regarding the issue," says Khilkhil Kazi. "I am sure that they also contacted others who criticised their actions. They did not even have the decency to call me directly and apologise. Nonetheless, they will be held accountable."

Robi Axiata Limited has published an official apology on their Facebook page, saying that the post was made by their affiliated agency.

"We have always been respectful towards our National Poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Bangladesh's art and culture. We are deeply sorry for this mistake," they wrote.

"This was just an unfortunate mix-up, and we did give our official statement on social media," said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi Axiata. "Regarding the case, any citizen is well within their rights to file for defamation."

Ashraful Islam, media manager of Robi Axiata Limited, told The Daily Star that they have already made their official statement, and they have nothing more to add.