PM hands over Ekushey Padak to nine individuals, one organisation

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday handed over the country’s second-highest civilian award, the Ekushey Padak, to nine distinguished individuals and one organisation in recognition of their outstanding contributions in fields including education, journalism, film and music.

The awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital at 11:00 am. Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani conducted the programme.

Earlier on February 5, the government announced the list of recipients for the Ekushey Padak 2026. This year, nine eminent personalities and the music band Warfaze were nominated for their contributions in different fields, according to local media reports.

The recipients who received the awards from the Prime Minister are: Farida Akhtar Bobita for film, Prof. Abdus Sattar for fine arts, Marina Tabassum for architecture, Ayub Bachchu (posthumous) for music, Islam Uddin Palakar for drama, Shafik Rehman for journalism, Prof. Mahbubul Alam Majumdar for education, Tejas Halder Jash for sculpture and Arthi Ahmed for dance.

The Ekushey Padak was also awarded to the band Warfaze for its contribution to music.

The Ekushey Padak is the country’s second-highest civilian honour, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Language Movement. The government confers the award every year in recognition of notable contributions in various fields.

According to the rules, each recipient receives a gold medal weighing 35 grams, a replica medal, a certificate and a cash prize of Tk 400,000.

Since 1976, the award has been given in recognition of outstanding national contributions by writers, artists, educationists, language activists, researchers, journalists, economists, social workers and institutions. However, no recipient was selected in the literature category this year.

The government invited nominations for the Ekushey Padak 2026 in late July last year, with October 30 set as the deadline for submission.