– Novelist Shahidul Zahir (Md Shahidul Haque) and poet Helal Hafiz will be honoured posthumously for their contributions in the field of Language and Literature
Art and Culture Desk: On February 6, Ministry of Cultural Affairs has announced the recipients of the Ekushey Padak. Eight out of the 14 awardees are cultural personalities.
It is the second-highest civilian award in Bangladesh. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki announced the list in a press meet at 4:30pm at the conference room of the ministry.
He congratulated the 2025 Ekushey Padak recipients on social media saying, “The Ekushey Padak 2025 has been announced just now. We are very happy that this year the Bangladesh National Women’s Football Team has been considered for the Ekushey Padak.”
The list all the awardees is as follows:
Bangladesh National Women’s Football Team- Sports
Maidul Hasan (Author of Muldhara 71)- Research
Shahidul Zahir- Language and Literature
Helal Hafiz- Language and Literature
Dr. Shahidul Alam (Photographer, Human Rights Activist and Founder of Drik)- Culture and Education
Mehedi Hasan Khan (creator of Avro)- Science and Technology
Mahfuz Ullah- Journalism
Mahmudur Rahman- Journalism and Human Rights
Azizur Rahman (Director of Holiday Hours and many other films)- Film
Ustad Nirad Baran BaruaArts- Music
Ferdous Ara- Music
Nasir Ali Mamun- Photography
Rokeya Sultana- Painting
Dr Niaz Zaman- Education
Md Yusuf Chowdhury- Philanthropy
Farooki ends is statement with, “Genius people are far above medals. I don’t think any of them work for medals. The state honors them by saying, “We are grateful for your contribution.”
The Ministry of Culture and the National Committee on Awards have worked closely for a long time on the 2025 Ekushey Padak. I express my gratitude to all of them.”
Novelist Shahidul Zahir (Md Shahidul Haque) and poet Helal Hafiz will be honoured posthumously for their contributions in the field of Language and Literature.
The Ekushey Padak is announced in the month of the International Mother Language Day (February 21) to pay homage to the language martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement.
 and poet Helal Hafiz will be honoured posthumously for their contributions in the field of Language and Literature){kind=link}