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Sep 02, 2023

FOSWAL Special Literary Award for Bangabandhu handed to PM

The Special Literary Award conferred on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by the Foundation of Saarc Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) has been handed over to his daughter Prime

The Special Literary Award conferred on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by the Foundation of Saarc Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) has been handed over to his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina received it from writers and researchers Ramendu Majumder and Mofidul Haque at the Gono Bhaban today.

Letters and books written by Academy Award-winning author Ajeet Cour were also handed over to the prime minister.

The FOSWAL on March 26 conferred the "Special Literary Award" on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for his trilogy -- The Unfinished Memoirs, The Prison Diaries and The New China as I Saw.

Prime Minister's Deputy Press Secretary KM Shakhawat Moon said after receiving the award, the premier thanked all concerned for this prize.

Hasina said Bangabandhu is at the height of the Himalayas as a politician, but he also demonstrated the signature of unique talent in his writing.

Referring to the historic March 7 Speech, the prime minister said Bangabandhu's speech today is a world document. "This speech, which inspired the entire nation on the eve of the Liberation War in 1971, is a political epic," she added.

Saarc Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the Foundation of Saarc Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) since 2001.

"Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature is honoured to present Saarc Literature Award-2023 in its 63rd Literature Festival to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for outstanding literary excellence for his trilogy," said a citation before handing over the award.

Eminent Punjabi novelist and FOSWAL founder president Ajeet Cour formally handed over the award to Ramendu Majumder and Mofidul Haque at the festival.

The citation said, "Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, architect of independent Bangladesh, 'Bangabandhu' to his people, is a towering figure of national liberation of oppressed people of the world. Like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King [Jr], he was brutally murdered by the forces of darkness, but no power on earth can erase him from history."

It added, "A new dimension of his life opened up when his long-lost prison diary and notebook came to light and was subsequently published".

The citation further said that the "trilogy has great merit as a political document and a human testament written with love and compassion, by a man who changed the course of history and led his people to freedom".

It added, "It is the proud privilege of Foundation of Saarc Writers and Literature to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for outstanding literary excellence for his trilogy."

The three-day-long regional literary conference of FOSWAL began in the Indian capital New Delhi March 26. A large number of eminent writers and literature from the South East Asian region, including Bangladesh, had joined in the conference.