Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday handed over the prestigious Ekushey Padak 2020 among 20 eminent persons and an organisation on the eve of Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day, reports BSS.
The PM distributed Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, at a programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka in the morning. State minister for cultural affairs KM Khalid chaired the event organised by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Secretary of the ministry Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal delivered the welcome address, while cabinet secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam conducted the award-giving ceremony and read out the citations of the awardees.
Cabinet members, PM’s advisors, judges, parliament members, the chiefs of three armed forces, foreign diplomats, litterateurs, poets, academics, writers, poets, journalists, Ekushey Award laureates of previous years and high civil and military officials attended the function. This year’s winners of the award are late Aminul Islam Badsha, posthumous, in Language Movement; Begum Dalia Nawshin, Shankar Roy and Begum Mita Haque in music; Md Golam Mostafa Khan in dance, SM Mohsin in acting, Professor Dr Farida Zaman in fine arts, late Haji Akhter Sardar, posthumous, Abdul Jabbar, posthumous, and late Dr AAM Mesbahul Haque (Bachchu Daktar) posthumous, in Liberation War; Zafar Wazed (Ali Wazed Zafar) in journalism; Dr Jahanagir Alam and Hafez Kari Allama Syed Mohammad Saifur Rahman Nijami Shah in research; Professor Dr Bikiran Prasad Barua in education; Professor Dr Shamsul Alam in economics; Sufi Mohammad Mizanur Rahman in social service; Dr Nurun Nabi, late Sikder Aminul Haque, posthumous, and Begum Nazmun Nesa Piyari in language and literature, and Professor Dr Sayeba Akhter in medical science.
Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute won the award in research. The Ekushey Award was introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to individuals and organisations in recognition of contributions to a number of fields including liberation war, literature, music, education, journalism, poverty reduction, research, and visual arts. The cultural affairs ministry confers the award with a gold medal, a certificate of honour and cash.
