FOSWAL's Literary Award for Bangabandhu handed over to PM Hasina

The FOSWAL Literary Award, conferred on Father the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was handed over to his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday, reports UNB.

Noted writers and researchers Ramendu Majumdar and Mofidul Haque handed over the award to her at the latter's official residence Ganobhaban, said PM's Deputy Press Secretary KM Shakhawat Moon.

At the time, the premier was given a letter and book written by eminent Punjabi novelist and FOSWAL Founder President Ajeet Cour as well as a centenary-old Phulkari cloth sheet (Chadar) as gifts. Extending thanks to all the concerned, Hasina said Bangabandhu stood tall like the Himalayas as a politician. Besides, he also had left the signs of the unique talent in his writings, she added.

Referring to the historic 7th March speech, the PM said, Bangabandhu's speech is today a part of the world's documentary heritage.

She described this speech as a political epic which inspired the whole nation on the eve of the Liberation War in 1971.

On March 26, the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) conferred 'Special Literary Award' on Bangabandhu for his trilogy -- The Unfinished Memoirs, The Prison Diaries, and New China 1952.

FOSWAL Founder President Ajeet Cour handed over the award to Ramendu Majumder and Mofidul Haque at its 63rd Literature Festival in New Delhi.

In the citation, it was stated, "Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the 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 he was brutally murdered by the forces of darkness, but no power on earth can erase him from history." SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) since 2001.