Ekushey Padak, the second-highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh, will be handed over on Saturday.
The awards will be handed over to the awardees at 11:00 am at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to take part in the event via video conference from her official residence Ganabhaban, said a press note on Wednesday.
Earlier on February 4, the Cultural Affairs Ministry announced the names of the 21 eminent personalities who will get the Ekushey Padak this year in recognition of their contributions to various fields. Four of them have been named posthumously for the prestigious annual award.
This year three persons got the award in the language movement category, three in liberation war, three in language and literature, seven in Shilpakala (art, music and dance) and one each in journalism, research, education, economics and social service.
Motahar Hossain Talukdar (Motahar Master) (posthumous), Shamsul Haque (posthumous), and Advocate Afsar Uddin Ahmed (posthumous) have been selected for their roles in the Language Movement.
Begum Papia Sarowar won the award for her contributions to music while Raisul Islam Asad and Salma Begum Sujata (Sujata Ajim) for performing art, Ahmed Iqbal Haidar for drama, Syed Salahuddin Zaki for film, Dr Bhaskar Bandopandhay for recitation and Pavel Rahman for photography.
Golam Hasnayen, Fazlur Rahman Khan Faruk and valiant freedom fighter Syeda Issabela (posthumous) got the award for their contributions to the Liberation War.
Ajay Dasgupta won the award for his contributions to journalism, Prof Dr Samir Kumar Saha for research, Mahfuza Khanam for education, Dr Mirza Abdul Jalil for economics, and Prof Kazi Kamruzzaman for social service.
Kazi Rozy, Bulbul Chowdhury and Golam Murshid are being recognized for their contributions to language and literature.
(Source: Online Desk)
