DHAKA, Feb 20, 2018 (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today called for giving due honour to Bangladesh’s rich culture and heritage by collecting and preserving those properly so that none can forget this ballad of glory.
“We, the Bangalee nation, have many things of glory and this ballad of glory will have to be collected and projected properly for the next generation so that none can forget those … we will have to give due honour to our culture and heritage,” she said.
The prime minister said this while distributing the Ekushey Padak-2018 at a function organized by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs at Osmani Memorial Auditorium here this morning.
She added: “We’re taking Bangladesh forward through a struggle. But we’ve to remain careful so that we never forget our language, culture and heritage.”
The premier said it’s natural that the people will learn many languages and cultures and use technologies to move keeping pace with the world. “But we’ve to maintain our own identity and we can move ahead by maintaining this … it’s my realization,” she said
The Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award of the country introduced in 1976 in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952, is given every year to individuals and organizations for their outstanding contribution to various fields including literature, music, education, journalism, poverty reduction, research, and visual arts.
This year, 21 eminent citizens were today given the Ekushey Padak, 2018 for their outstanding contributions to their respective fields.
The awardees are: AJM Takiullah (posthumous) and Professor Mirza Mazharul Islam in language movement, Sheikh Sadi Khan, Sujeyo Shyam, Indra Mohan Rajbangshi, Md Khurshid Alam and Matiul Haque Khan in music, Begum Minu Haque (Minu Billah) in dance, Humayun Faridi (posthumous) in acting, Nikhil Sen in drama, Kalidas Karmakar in fine arts, Golam Mustafa in photography, Ranesh Moitro in journalism, Language Veteran Professor Zulekha Haque (posthumous) in research, Dr Mainul Islam in economics, Ilias Kanchan in social service, Syed Manjurul Islam, Saiful Islam Khan (poet Hayat Saif), Subrata Barua, Rabiul Hussain and Khalekdad Chowdhury (posthumous) in language and literature.
Each recipient got a gold medal, a certificate and a cheque of Taka 2 lakh.
Minister for Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor presided over the function, while Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam conducted the programme and read out the citations of the awardees.
Cultural Affairs Secretary Md Ibrahim Hossain Khan delivered the welcome address.
Cabinet members, the PM’s advisors, judges, parliament members, foreign diplomats, litterateurs, academics, writers, poets, journalists, Ekushey Award laureates of previous years and high civil and military officials attended the function.
The prime minister pointed out that her government is very much sincere in upholding the country’s rich tradition, language and culture.
“The traditional ‘jamdani saree’, ‘mongal shobhajatra’, ‘nakshikatatha’ and ‘shital pati’ of Sylhet have got international recognition due to our sincere efforts,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu’s historic March 7 speech got the UNESCO recognition as part of the world’s documentary heritage and “it’s a great pride for us”.
She recalled that this great speech was once prohibited after Bangabandhu’s 1975 assassination and many Awami League leaders and workers had to sacrifice their lives as they tried to play this address.
“But this speech now made its room in the list of the world’s documentary heritage and we’ve got this recognition,” the premier said.
The prime minister said Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore took Bangla literature to the world stage while “Bangabandhu took the Bangla language in the international arena by giving speech in Bangla for the first time at the United Nations”.
“Following his footprint I’ve also been giving speech in Bangla at the UN General Assembly regularly and our efforts are underway for realizing the demand of recognition of Bangla language as the official language of the UN,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh is a victorious nation which earned independence through 23 years of struggle and the nine-month bloody liberation war.
She said now Bangladesh has been recognised as a dignified nation on the world stage due to its stunning achievements in different sectors. “We don’t want that the great achievements that we earned through the blood of three million martyrs be foiled in any way,” she said.
The prime minister said the dignity that was supposed to Bangladesh get was lost after the assassination of the Father of the Nation. “This dignity was foiled when the politics of killing, coup and conspiracy began after Bangabandhu’s killing,” she said.
The premier said that the greatest Ekushey is the symbol of our democratic values, Bangali nationalism, spirit of liberation struggle and secularism.
“Awami League government has relentlessly been working to develop the country being imbued with the spirit of the great Ekushey and the Liberation War,” Sheikh Hasina noted.
She said on this day in 1952, many valiant sons of the soil, including Rafiq, Shafique, Salam, Jabbar and Barkat, sacrificed their lives for protecting the dignity of the mother tongue.
“I pay my deep homage to their memories. I also pay my deep respect to all language veterans, including the greatest Bangali of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had led the language movement from the forefront,” the premier said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu initiated the Language Movement when he was a student of the Law Department of Dhaka University as “at that time the Pakistani rulers tried to snatch our mother tongue and impose an alien language on us”.
The premier said the Father of the Nation had constituted Bhasha Sangram Parishad comprising Tamaddun Majlish, Student League and other student bodies.
She said Bangabandhu started the movement on March 11 in 1948 and “this movement drove us to the movement for self rule, six-point movement and eventually the great Liberation War through which we got the dignity of the Bengali nation and a state named Bangladesh under his leadership”.
The prime minister said Bangladesh Awami League government after getting responsibility for running the state after 21 years in 1996 took a strong initiative to realize the international recognition of Ekushey February.
She said Ekushey February got recognition as the International Mother Language Day by the UNESCO in 1999 due to the initiatives of some expatriate Bengalis including late Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam and efforts of the then Awami League government.
“In this way, our Ekushey has been turned into the mother language day of the people of the entire world,” Sheikh Hasina said.
The prime minister said her government has not remained stopped only realizing the international recognition, it also established the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka.
The institute, she said, created a scope for conducting research, practicing and preserving with the origin and flourish of all languages of the world.