Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Padak 2019 conferred
DL DESK, Dhaka
Veteran journalist Kamal Lohani and architects Farid Uddin Ahmed and Jami Al Shafi were awarded with the prestigious Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Padak 2019 (Altaf Mahmud Award 2019) for their outstanding contribution to their respective fields.
Kamal Lohani has made special contributions to the language and cultural movement, while architects Farid Uddin Ahmed and Jami Al Shafi designed the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial of Rayer Bazar.
To remember and pay respect to Altaf Mahmud, the Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Foundation organised a commemorative programme, followed by an award ceremony, on Friday at the National Music and Dance Centre auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital.
Attending the event as the chief guest, State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid handed over the awards to the recipients. A crest, uttorio (celebratory scarf) and an amount of ten thousand taka were also given to the award recipients.
The programme was also attended by Nasiruddin Yousuff, Shimul Yousuff, Hasan Arif, Altaf Mahmuds wife Sara Ara Mahmud and Altaf Mahmuds daughter Shaon Mahmud, among others.
Altaf Mahmud (December 23, 1933 September, 1971) was a musician, cultural activist and martyred freedom fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War. During a combing operation (on August 30, 1971) in Dhaka by the Pakistan army, Mahmud was arrested and believed to have been killed in September of that year.
Since 2005, Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Foundation has been organising the award ceremony.
Earlier, in the past years, the award was conferred on Baby Islam, Dr Enamul Haque, Sabina Yasmin, Ajit Ray, Khandakar Nurul Alam, Sudhin Das, Bipul Bhattacharya, Alam Khan, National Professor Rafiqul Islam, Nayak Raj Razzak, Mustafa Monwar, Mohammad Shahnewaz, Qayyum Chowdhury, Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul, Alauddin Ali, Hasan Azizul Huq, Serajul Islam Choudhury, Aly Zaker, Mofidul Haque, Syed Hasan Imam and Ferdousi Majumdar. l
