Badruddin Umar not to receive Swadhinata Padak

The government has announced the names of the nominees for this year's Swadhinata Padak, the highest state award of the country.

This time, eight prominent individuals have been nominated. Among them is writer and intellectual Badruddin Umar. However, he has said that he will not receive the award.

In a statement on Thursday (March 6), Badruddin Umar said: "Since 1973, I have been given awards from various government and private organizations. I have not accepted any of them. Now the current interim government has announced to give me the Swadhinata Padak. I thank them for that. But it is not possible for me to accept this award given by them either."

Apart from Badruddin Umar, those who were nominated for the award this year are--Commander-in-chief of the Liberation War General MAG Osmani; Eminent Scientist Professor Jamal Nazrul Islam; BRAC founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed; poet Al Mahmud; pop legend Azam Khan; renowned sculptor Novera Ahmed, who is one of the key designers of the Central Shaheed Minar; and Abrar Fahad, a student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), who was killed by members of the now-banned Chhatra League in October, 2019.

Swadhinata Padak is given for special contribution in various fields. As an award, each person is given a 50-gram 18-carat gold medal, a check of honorarium and a certificate of honor.