PM hands over Ekushey Padak

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday handed over the prestigious Ekushey Padak-2020 among 20 eminent personalities and an organisation in recognition of their outstanding contributions to various fields.

The Prime Minister handed over the Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, to the awardees of their family members at a function organised by the Cultural Affairs Ministry at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital around 11:00 am.

The awardees were given the prestigious award on the eve of the Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day.

They 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.

Each recipient is given a gold medal, a certificate of honour and cash.

Earlier on February 5, the government announced the names of 20 eminent persons and an organization for the “Ekushey Padak-2020” for their outstanding contributions to respective fields.

The ‘Ekushey Award’, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, was introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Language Movement of 1952.

The award is given to individuals and organizations in recognition of contributions to a number of fields including liberation war, literature, music, education, journalism, poverty reduction, research, and visual arts.

The nation is set to observe the “Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day” on February 21 to pay glowing tributes to the Language Movement martyrs who made supreme sacrifice for the cause of the mother language on this day in 1952.

Dhaka/Eva/AI