PM Hasina hands Ekushey Padak to 21 personalities

The 21 winners of Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, have received the trophies from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 Feb 2018, 09:17 AM
Updated : 20 Feb 2018, 09:19 AM

Hasina handed a gold medal, Tk 200,000 and a certificate of honour to each of the winners at a ceremony at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday. 

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs announced names of the nominees on Feb 8.

Shanta Maria, daughter of language movement activist AZM Takiullah, received the posthumous honour for her father.

Son of legendary Bengali linguist Dr Muhammad Shahidullah, Takiullah reformed the Bangla calendar ‘Promita Bangla Barshapanji’ which Bangladesh follows at present.

He was the copyright holder of rare snapshots of the initial stage of the Language Movement.

Prof Dr Mirza Mazharul Islam bagged the award in the same category. He too played an active role in the Language Movement in its early days.

He joined the State Language Movement Council as the first representative of Dhaka Medical College. 

Islam endured torture by police on occasions during the movement and provided treatment to many language movement heroes who took bullets on Feb 21, 1952.

Sheikh Sadi Khan received the honour for his contributions to Bangladesh’s musical scene. The revered composer and music director is a three-time winner of the National Film Awards.

The other winners in music are Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra artistes: Sujeo Shyam, Indra Mohan Rajbangshi, Md Khurshid Alam and Matiul Hoque Khan.

Minu Haque, widely known as Minu Billah, received the award for her role in dance. Minu, who was only 17 during the 1971 Liberation War, served as a nurse at the Bangladesh Field Hospital. She worked actively to set up the Dhaka University dance department.

Veteran actor Humayun Faridi received the posthumous award. The actor had graced stage, television and the silver screen for over four decades. His daughter Shararat Islam received the award on his behalf.   

Nikhil Sen, Kalidas Karmakar and Golam Mostafa received the award for their contributions to dramatics, fine arts, and photography respectively.

Kalidas Karmakar has introduced different forms and angles in paintings. He is the pioneer of fixed forms, environment art, archaeological art, and performance art in Bangladesh.

Language Movement hero Prof Zulekha Hoque received a posthumous award for her research. Her daughter Trisha Hoque received the award.

Ranesh Maitra won this year’s Ekushey Padak in journalism. Maitra, a lawyer, politician and a writer, has been put behind bars 10 times since 1954. He had to spend 15 years of his life in prison in phases.

The polymath, who currently resides abroad, came in touch with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while in prison. His son Proloy Maitra received the award on his behalf.

Actor Ilias Kanchan received the honour for his contributions to social welfare. The actor had been waging a campaign demanding safe roads since 1993 when his wife died in a road crash.

His campaign has covered all parts of the country over the last 24 years. His organisation has provided free of cost trainings to more than 500 SSC graduates on driving.

Prof Moinul Islam received the honour for his roles in economics.

Syed Manzoorul Islam, Saiful Islam Khan, Subrata Barua and Rabiul Husain were honoured for their contributions to language and literature. Haiderdad Chowdhury, son of late Khaleqdad Chowdhury, received his father’s award in the same category.