Papia Sarwar, the Ekushey Padak laureate and renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent, has died. She passed away at a private hospital in Dhaka on Thursday at 8 a.m.
Her husband, Sarwar Alam, confirmed the devastating news to the Daily Prothom Alo. The BIRDEM mortuary will house the deceased artist’s remains today. We will hold her Janaza tomorrow after the Jumma prayers, and bury her at Banani graveyard.
Last night, Papia Sarwar’s health continued to deteriorate to the point where doctors had to put her on ventilator support.
According to reports, Papia Sarwar had been fighting cancer for a number of years. She was receiving treatment at a hospital in the Bashundhara Residential Area of Dhaka last month. Following that, they transferred her to a Tejgaon private hospital, where she proceeded with her treatment.
However, this renowned artist passed away from her illness in spite of the doctors’ best efforts. She left behind her husband and two children when she passed away at the age of 72.
Her younger daughter, Jisha Sarwar, is an executive with the Canadian Ministry of Finance, and her older daughter, Zara Sarwar, is an assistant professor of biology at the College of New Jersey.
On November 21, 1952, Papia Sarwar was born in Barishal. Papia, who joined Chhayanaut in Class Six, was a lifelong admirer of Rabindranath Tagore. She subsequently became a student at the Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA). Since 1967, the Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) has listed her as a television and radio artist. She also attended the University of Dhaka, where she studied zoology.
On a scholarship from the Indian government, she went to India in 1973 to study Rabindra Sangeet at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan.
Following Bangladesh’s independence, she became the first Bangladeshi to receive this scholarship and complete her degree. She had previously studied music at Chhayanaut under Zahedur Rahim, Sanjida Khatun, and Wahidul Haque.
She released her first audio album, “Papia Sarwar,” in 1982 under her own name.
Millions of listeners adored Papia Sarwar’s renditions of Rabindra Sangeet during her storied musical career. The music industry widely praised her for her distinctive singing style and unique voice.
She was successful with contemporary Bangla songs as well. “Nai Telephone Nai Re Pion Nai Re Telegram” is one of her most well-known songs, and it made her extremely popular among Bangla music fans.
Music experts claim that Papia Sarwar was very picky about the contemporary songs she sang, which accounts for the smaller number of albums in her discography. Released in 2013, “Akashpane Hath Baralam” was her final album.
Papia Sarwar received the Bangla Academy’s Rabindra Award in 2013. She later received the Bangla Academy Fellowship in 2015. In 2021, she received the Ekushey Padak in recognition of her outstanding contributions.
The singer of Chattogram folk music, Sanjit Acharya, passes away at age 71.
She served on the Executive Committee of the National Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad after having previously been its General Secretary. This distinguished artist founded the musical group Gitasudha in 1996.
