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Published : 06 Mar 2025, 11:39 PM
Writer and intellectual Badruddin Umar has said accepting the Independence Award is “impossible” for him.
He explained that he has been nominated for awards by different government and non-government organisations since 1973, but has never accepted any of them.
Media reports recently suggested that Badruddin, along with seven others, had been nominated for the Independence Award 2025, though the government has yet to issue an official gazette notification.
Reacting to the news, the Marxist theorist issued a statement clarifying his stance.
In a statement sent by Jatiya Mukti Council General Secretary Faiezul Hakim on Thursday, Badruddin expressed gratitude to the current interim government for considering him for the award but reiterated that he would not accept it.
Badruddin, who began his career as a part-time teacher at Dhaka University, later founded the Department of Sociology at Rajshahi University.
He was the president of the Bangladesh Krishok Federation, or BKF, and the central coordinator of the Gonotantrik Biplobi Jote.
The veteran was also once a member of the central committee of the Purba Banglar Communist Party, or PBCP.
In 2003, he founded the Jatiya Mukti Council and assumed the role of president.
When contacted by bdnews24.com, Badruddin reiterated: “I will not accept the award. I have mentioned this in the statement.”
Among the eight people reportedly nominated for this year’s award, Badruddin is the only living recipient.
The remaining seven will receive the honour posthumously.
They are commander-in-chief of the 1971 Liberation War Mohammad Ataul Gani Osami, pop icon Azam Khan, BRAC founder Fazle Hasan Abed, sculptor Novera Ahmed, poet Al Mahmud, physicist Professor Jamal Nazrul Islam, and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, or BUET, student Abrar Fahad.
The Independence Award is the country’s highest civilian honour, which has been awarded annually by the government since 1977 on the occasion of Independence Day on Mar 26.
