8th February is a remarkable day in Indian history. That is the date of birth of Zakir Husain, the third President of India. He was an Indian economist and politician who served as 3rd President of India. He was born on 8th Feb 1897 and died on 03 May 1969. Prior to being president of India, he also served as Governor of Bihar and Vice President of India.
He was the co-founder of Jamia Milia Islamia and served as its Vice-Chancellor. He was conferred Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor in 1963.
The Ghazal King, Jagjit Singh (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) birthday is also celebrated on 08th Feb. He was born on 08th Feb 1941. He was born in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan. During early childhood, his name was Jagmohan Singh Dhiman. He gained enormous popularity on stage and credited for the revival of ghazal in Indian classical art form.
The legend was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2003 and in February 2014, the government released a set of two postal stamps in his honor.
08th February is also the death anniversary of Indian poet and songwriter Nida Fazli (12 October 1938 – 8 February 2016). He was a prominent Hindi and Urdu poet. He was born in Delhi into a Kashmiri family. He grew up in Gwalior. In 1965, eighteen years after the partition of India, his parents and other family members migrated to Pakistan. Fazli however decided to stay back in India. This happened one year after Fazli had moved from Gwalior to Mumbai (in 1964) to earn a living. This departure of his parents was an epochal event in his life, the pain, and repercussions of which would remain with him all his life.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 by the government of India for his contribution to literature.