‘Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Padak 2015’ has been announced for the year 2015. Eminent writer Hasan Azizul Huq and noted music director Alauddin Ali will be awarded with the prestigious award this year for their outstanding contributions to the literature and music respectively. The award will be handed over to the veterans on August 30 at Liberation War Museum in the capital. Organised by Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Foundation, Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor will attend the award giving ceremony as chief guest, while veteran filmmaker Syed Salahuddin Zaki will be present as special guest. Each of the award recipients will receive a crest, uttorio and an amount of ten thousand taka, Member Secretary of Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Foundation Shaon Mahmud informed.
Altaf Mahmud (December 23, 1933– September, 1971) was a musician, cultural activist and martyred freedom fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was also an activist of the Language Movement, who composed ‘Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangao’– a famous song written by Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury to commemorate the historical event. During a combing operation (on August 30, 971) in Dhaka by the Pakistan army, Mahmud was arrested along with his brothers-in-law and a friend. He was tortured and believed to have been killed in September of that year.