Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday conferred the Ekushey Padak, the second-highest civilian award in Bangladesh, to 21 eminent personalities in recognition of their outstanding contributions to various fields.
She handed out the awards at a ceremony at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka.
The cultural affairs ministry organized the event on the occasion of International Mother Language Day 2024.
Among the award recipients, Ashraf Uddin Ahmed (posthumous) and freedom fighter Hatem Ali Mia (posthumous) were honoured with the award for their roles in the Language Movement.
Besides, Jalal Uddin Kha (posthumous), freedom fighter Kalyani Ghosh, Bidit Lal Das (posthumous), Andrew Kishore (posthumous) and Subhro Dev were recognized for their contributions to music and Shibli Mohammad, Dolly Johur and MA Alamgir for performing dance and acting, respectively.
Popular elocutionists Shimul Mustapha and Rupa Chakraborty were also conferred the Ekushey Padak.
Shahjahan Ahmed Bikash and Kawsar Chowdhury were awarded for their contribution to painting and documentary films related to the Liberation War.
Md Ziaul Haque and Rafiq Ahmed were given the award for social services.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Samad, Lutfor Rahman Riton, Minar Monsur and Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah received the award for contributing to language and literature and Jinabodhi Bhikkhu for his contribution to education.
Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain conducted the function and read out the citations of the award recipients at the award-giving ceremony chaired by Cultural Affairs Secretary Khalil Ahmed.