Bangla Academy

'', depicting the language movement martyrs, is one of the features of Bangla Academy. The importance of establishing an organisation for Bengali language was first emphasised by the linguist Muhammad Shahidullah. Later, following the Language movement, on 27 April 1952, the All Party National Language Committee decided to demand the establishment of an organisation for the promotion of Bengali language. During the 1954 parliamentary elections, the United Front's 21-point manifesto stated that, "The prime minister from the United Front will dedicate the Bardhaman House, also known as Burdwan House, for establishing a research center for the Bengali language". The building was the official residence of the Chief Minister of East Pakistan, Nurul Amin during the Language movement and part of the University of Dhaka before that. Following the election success of the Front, the education minister Syed Azizul Haque placed the order to fulfill this promise. In 1955, the government formed a committee to expedite the process. The committee was composed of leading intellectuals like Muhammad Shahidullah, Qazi Motahar Hossain, S.M. Bhattacharya, W. H. Shadani, and Muhammad Barkatullah. On 3 December 1955, the Chief Minister of East Bengal, Abu Hussain Sarkar, inaugurated the institute. In 1957, an act of the parliament formally established the funding source and the Government support for the institute. After the independence of Bangladesh, the director's position was renamed Director General. On 19 September 2008, a new 8-storey building, containing a 500-capacity auditorium and a 100-capacity seminar room, opened next to the main building. ==Structure==

The functions and structure of the institute were devised on the model of the French Academy. Divisions • Research, compilation and folklore • Language, literature, culture and publication • Textbook • Planning and training ==Activities==

The main task of the academy is to conduct research on Bengali language, culture, and history, and to publish Bengali literary and research work. To commemorate the Language movement and the Language martyr's day, the academy organizes the month-long Ekushey Book Fair, the largest book fair in the country. It was introduced by former director general Monzur-I-Mowla in 1979. == Criticism ==

In recent years, Bangla Academy has been widely criticized for allowing different organizations to arrange events in English and denigrating Bengali in the premise of Bangla Academy, which is a violation of the vision of the institution. "The Academy has misused a lot of funds in producing useless books, books that are unoriginal," opines Salimullah Khan. Khan is of the opinion that the academy is short on original publications long on dross. He believes that both in research and in the field of creative writing, originality must be given priority. He also adds that most of the problems lie in the process of selection. The selection process the crucial decision to ditch one manuscript to pick another that will be added to the long list of academy publications, is faulty and in dire need of revision. == Awards conferred by Bangla Academy ==

Bangla Academy confers the following awards annually or biennially. Bangla Academy Literary Award Rabindra Award This award is the recognition of research of Rabindra literature and lifelong pursuit of Rabindra music since 2010. • 2010 – Kalim Sharafi and Sanjida Khatun • 2011 – Ahmed Rafiq and Ajit Roy • 2012 – Anisur Rahman, Fahmida Khatun and Iffat Ara Dewan • 2013 – Karunamaya Goswami and Papia Sarwar • 2014 – Manzoore Mawla and Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya • 2015 – Sanat Kumar Saha and Sadi Mohammad • 2016 – Syed Akram Hossain and Tapan Mahmud • 2017 – Hayat Mamud and Mita Haque • 2018 – Abul Momen and Fahim Hossain Chowdhury • 2019 – Safiuddin Ahmed, Begum Akhtar Kamal, and Iqbal Ahmed • 2020 – Sadhan Ghosh • 2021 – Atiur Rahman • 2022 – Siddika Mahmuda • 2023 – Sheela Momen • 2024 – Bhishmadev Chowdhury and Laisa Ahmed Mazharul Islam Poetry Award This award is conferred to the Bangladeshi poets since 2010. S'adat Ali Akhand Literature Award This is a literature award commemorating the writer S'adat Ali Akhand. Kabir Chowdhury Children Literature Award • 2004 – Ekhlasuddin Ahmed • 2006 – Anwara Syed Haq • 2008 – Foyez Ahmad • 2010 – Sukumar Barua • 2013 – Mahmudullah • 2015 – Akhtar Hossain • 2017 – Hayat Mamud • 2020 – Shahriar Kabir • 2022 – Sirajul Farid • 2007 – Muhammad Ibrahim • 2012 – A. M. Harun-ar-Rashid • 2014 – Ajoy Roy • 2017 – • 2019 – Shishir Kumar Bhattacharjee • 2021 – Enam Ul Haque • 2025 – Khosru Chowdhury • 1397–1398: Md Lutfor Rahman and Md Alamgir Hossain for Computer Science • 1401–1402: Atul Kumar Pal for Exportable fisheries of Bangladesh and Shahidullah Mridha for Bay of Bengal: Biodiversity, Marine Science and Marine Resources • 1405–1406: Farseem Mannan Mohammedy for Jyoti: Introduction to Physics • 1407–1408: Hafizuddin Ahmed for Deadly disease SARS • 1409–1410: Basudev Kumar Das for Environment: Chemical composition and pollution • 1411–1412: Ferdousi Begum for Why am I like my parents? • 1415–1416: J. B. M. Jafar Sadeq for Clinical Skin, Leprosy, Venereal Diseases and Their Treatment • 1418–1419: Dwijen Sharma for Talking about trees and flowers • 1420–1421: Asif for At the turning point of history on the path of evolution • 1422–1423: Zayed Farid for Plant Nature • 1424–1425: Mukaram Hossain for Nisarga Akhyan • 1426–1427: Saumitra Chakravarty • 2014 – Iqbal Hasan and Syed Iqbal • 2015 – Manju Islam and Fras Bhattacharya • 2016 – Shamim Azad and Nazmun Nesa Peyari • 2017 – Masud Khan and Mujib Irm Litterateur Mohammad Barkatullah Essay Award • 2017 – Ahmed Rafiq • 2018 – Sirajul Islam Chowdhury • 2019 – Farhad Khan • 2020 – Rafique Kaisar • 2021 – Sirajul Islam • 2023 – Anupam Sen Poet Jasimuddin Literature Award Bangla Academy introduced this biennial literary award in 2019. The winner receives Tk 2,00,000 and a crest as part of the award. • 2019 – Nirmalendu Goon • 2021 – Ahmed Rafiq • 2023 – Mohammad Rafiq Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed Natyajan Award This award was introduced as Adhyapak Momtazuddin Ahmed Natyajan Puraskar in 2021 after the death of dramatist Momtazuddin Ahmed. • 2021 – Ferdousi Mazumder • 2022 – Mamunur Rashid • 2023 – Ramendu Majumdar • 2021 – Anwara Syed Haq and Wasi Ahmed • 2025 – Subrata Barua and Anisur Rahman ==Presidents==

As of 2022, there are 193 persons made honorary fellows by the academy. ==Footnotes==