Muazzem Ali, Enamul Haque win India’s Padma awards

India has named the late Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali and archaeologist Enamul Haque among the 141 winners of Padma awards, one of the highest civilian honours.

Ali, also a former foreign secretary, was posthumously given the Padma Bhushan award for his “distinguished service of high order” while Haque has been named for Padma Shri for his “distinguished service” in his field, the Indian government said on Saturday.

The awards are conferred by the president of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.

Syed Muazzem Ali

Ali joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1968. While working in the Pakistan Embassy in Washington in 1971, the diplomat declared his allegiance to the government of Bangladesh.

Ali retired from the diplomatic service in December 2001. He later took up the New Delhi assignment under a new contract and returned to Dhaka in November 2019 after running his term. He died on Dec 30 at a hospital in the capital.

Enamul Haque

Haque, who specialises in museology, served the Dhaka Museum for decades and rose to be the founder director general of the Bangladesh National Museum.

Earlier, National Professor Anisuzzaman received the Padma Bhushan award in 2014 for his lifelong contribution to Bengali literature and writings.

The previous year, Jharna Dhara Chowdhury, Secretary of the Gandhi Ashram Trust in Noakhali, won Padma Shri.