9 individuals, one music band to get Ekushey Padak 2026

The government has nominated nine distinguished individuals and one institution for the Ekushey Padak 2026, country's second-highest civilian award, in recognition of their significant contributions across various fields. The decision was taken at the regular meeting of the Advisory Council.

Following the meeting of the Advisory Council, Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, Shafiqul Alam shared the information on Thursday at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

The individual recipients of the award are: Actress Farida Akhtar Bobita (Film); Dr. Mohammad Abdus Sattar (Fine Arts); Marina Tabassum (Architecture); Ayub Bachchu (posthumous) (Music); Palakar Islam Uddin (Theatre); Shafik Rehman (Journalism); Prof Mahbubul Alam Majumdar (Education); Tejas Halder (Sculpture) and Arthi Ahmed (Dance).

Besides, the only organization 'Warfaze' received the award on Band Music category.

Sources at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs said that an official notification regarding the awards may be published next week. The Ekushey Padak medals are scheduled to be conferred on 20 February during the opening ceremony of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair.

Earlier, in late July last year, the government invited nominations for the Ekushey Padak 2026, with a deadline set for October 30 of the same year.