Jagannath University Journal of Arts, Vol.-9, Issue-1, June 2022 311 Poetry for Global Peace: Reading Lalon and Tagore in the 21 st Century Abstract: Fakir Lalon Shah (1772 – 1890), a Bengali mystic poet of spiritual development; and Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941), a Bengali poet of peace and love, were near contemporaries writing in a time when people across the globe were experiencing violent humanitarian crises like racial conflicts, political unrest, gender discriminations, economic exploitations, forced slavery, etc. Both of them wrote advocating social peace and human development, and sang against those issues which were creating social unrest and injustice. This paper argues that reading the poetry of these two Bengali poets and realizing the truth embedded in them can keep people away from committing misdeeds harmful to people and society. The current world is witnessing violent conflicts and social unrest all around in many forms. Genocides, ethnic cleansings, religious persecutions are found occurring in many countries like Myanmar, Syria, Sudan, Congo prompting large-scale exodus of humans who are in a desperate search for safe accommodation. Miseries and sufferings are also caused in many places by such issues like racism, apartheids, political purges and repressions, forced labour and slavery, abuse of workers, etc. Even within the boundary of many a nation, social growth, peace, and security are disturbed by people’s dishonesty, misuse of public fund and property, riots and political conflicts between different groups, sexual violations, domestic violence, gender discriminations, etc. In such a backdrop, poetry of Lalon and Tagore can be a tool for fighting against these man-made ills that hinder social peace and progress across the world. Keywords: Lalon Shah, Tagore, poetry, protest against social injustices, global peace Introduction: Lalon and Tagore were near contemporaries writing in a time when people across the globe were experiencing violent humanitarian crises like racial conflicts, political unrest, gender discriminations, economic exploitations, forced slavery, etc. During the time of Lalon, class distinctions and caste discriminations were the major obstacles on the way to ensuring social justice for all in India. People of lower classes were discriminated and exploited both economically and psychologically by the upper class people. Lalon urged these people through his songs to refrain from practicing injustice and holding discriminatory attitude towards others, and follow the path of truth and righteousness. Similarly, during Tagore, India was tormented with social and political problems. Class distinctions, gender discriminations, political unrest, and economic exploitations on the lower class by the upper class were common problems the people of greater India were facing. Tagore wrote against these social injustices and urged people of all classes to work towards establishing a human society free from all types of discriminations and injustices. What Lalon and Tagore sang for in their lyrics and poetry around one hundred years back