Quazi Rosy, Ghulam Murshid, Raisul Islam Asad among 21 named for Ekushey Padak

The government has named 21 people, including poet Quazi Rosy, writer Ghulam Murshid and actor Raisul Islam Asad, for the Ekushey Padak award.

Three people were named for the second highest civilian award posthumously for their contribution to the Language Movement, according to an announcement made by the cultural affairs ministry on Thursday.

They are Motaher Hossain Talukder aka Motaher Master, Shamsul Haque and Afsaruddin Ahmad.

Valiant freedom fighter Syeda Isabela has also been named for the award posthumously for her contribution to the Liberation War.

Golam Hasnayen and Fazlur Rahman Khan Faruk will also receive the award under the Liberation War category.   

In music, the award goes to singer Papia Sarwar while Sujata Azim will be recognised along with Asad in acting, Ahmed Iqbal Haider in drama, Syed Salahuddin Zaki in film and Bhaswar Bandyopadhyay will receive the award in recitation. 

Ajoy Dasgupta will get the award in journalism, Pavel Rahman in photography, Samir Kumar Saha in research, Mahfuza Khanam in education, Mirza Abdul Jalil in economics, and Professor Quazi Quamruzzaman in social welfare.

Besides Rosy and writer-researcher Murshid, Bulbul Chowdhury has been named for the award under language and literature category.

The winners of the award will get a gold medal weighing 35 grams, Tk 400,000 and certification.

Cultural Affairs Secretary Badrul Arefin said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will distribute the award at a virtual event on Feb 20.

The main event will be held at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka, but the number of guests will be “very limited” due to the coronavirus pandemic, the secretary said.