When asked whether he knew the name of the great medieval poet from the locality, who had profound love for Bangla and criticised those Bengalis who looked down upon their own language some 350 years ago, Ali Arafat, a nine-grade student of South Sandwip High School, replied in the negative. “I have not heard the name of the poet,” Arafat said, when he was told that the name of the poet is Abdul Hakim (1620-1690), who was born in Sandwip off the coast of Noakhali. This correspondent asked around 10 school students playing cricket, on Friday, at the upazila parishd play-ground, about Abdul Hakim, who besides Bangla knew Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. Of them, only two students were able to say that Hakim was a poet. Hakim's most…

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday came down hard on Pakistan for spreading false and fabricated…