Bangladesh has announced on March 7, 2021 the names of nine individuals and one organization who will be conferred with the Highest Civilian Award of the Bangladesh called “Independence Award” for the year 2021.
Highlights
As per the announcement, four individuals have been selected posthumously under the category of freedom fighters with respect to their contribution to the liberation war of Bangladesh. These four individuals include- A K M Bazlur Rahman, Brig Gen. Khurshid Uddin Ahmed, Ahsan Ullah Master and Akhataruzzaman Chowdhury Babu. Apart from them, Dr. Mrinmoy Guha Niyogi was selected for contributing to science and technology. Mahadev Saha have been selected for award for his contributions in literature. Ataur Rahman and Gazi Mazharul Anwar will be honoured with the award for their contribution in Culture while, Dr. M Amzad Hossain was nominated for the award for his social & public service. Among the various organisations, “Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council” was nominated for the award for “Research & Training”.
Independence Award
This award is also called as the Independence Award, Swadhinata Padak and the Swadhinata Puroskar. It the highest civilian award which is conferred by the government of Bangladesh since 1977. It is given to the Bangladeshi citizens or organizations to recognise their substantial contribution in several fields including the education, journalism, public service, War of Liberation, Language Movement, medical science, science and technology, social science, games & sports, song, fine arts, rural development etc. The recipient of the honour gets a “Gold Medal”, a cash reward of ‘Five Lakh Taka’ and a certificate of honour.