The Bangla Academy (, ) is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in Bangladesh. It is an autonomous institution funded by the government of Bangladesh that fosters the Bengali language, literature and culture, works to develop and implement national language policy and conducts original research in Bengali. Established in 1955, it is located in the Burdwan House in Shahbagh, Dhaka, on the grounds of the University of Dhaka and Suhrawardy Udyan. The Bangla Academy hosts the annual Ekushey Book Fair.
History
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. Barkatullah acted as the Special Officer in charge. In 1956, Muhammad Enamul Haque took over as the first director.
In 1957, an act of the parliament formally established the funding source and the Government support for the institute. The first book published by the academy was Laili Maznu, an epic by the medieval poet Dawlat Ujir Bahram Khan, and edited by Ahmed Sharif. The first fellow of the academy was the poet Farrukh Ahmed.
The publication division was established in early 1957; the research, culture and library divisions and translation division were set in 1958 and 1961 respectively.
After the independence of Bangladesh, the director's position was renamed Director General. Mazharul Islam, head of Bangla Department of Rajshahi University, was the first Director General of the institute. 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
Meher Kabir Science Literature Award Bangla Academy has been conferring Meher Kabir Science Literature Award bi-annually since 2005 commemorating Meher Kabir (1919–2018), an academic and a litterateur. This award recognizes overall contribution of notable writers in science literature. The prize money of Tk 1,00,000, a certificate and a memento are presented to the award-winning writer in the annual general meeting of Bangla Academy. The initial fund was provided by National Professor Kabir Chowdhury, also the husband of Meher Kabir. 2005 – Kazi Zakir Hossain 2007 – Muhammad Ibrahim 2012 – A. M. Harun-ar-Rashid 2014 – Ajoy Roy 2017 – 2019 – Shishir Kumar Bhattacharjee 2021 – Enam Ul Haque 2023 – ABM Abdullah 2025 – Khosru Chowdhury
Halima-Sarfuddin Science Writer Award This award is conferred biannually following the Bengali calendar. 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 1428–1429: Abdul Gaffar 1430–1431: Safiq Islam for Goniter Rajye Anondobhromon
Syed Waliullah Award Bangla Academy confers this award commemorating the writer Syed Waliullah. The award consists of a certificate, a crest of honour and Tk 50,000. The award was formally called "Bangla Academy Probashi Lekhak Award" (lit: Bangla Academy Expatriate Writer Award). 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 2022 – Razia Sultana 2023 – Anupam Sen 2025 – Mansur Musa
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.The Adhyapak Momtazuddin Ahmed Natyajan Puraskar–2019 was awarded to Asaduzzaman Noor by a different organization before Bangla Academy started hosting it since 2021A similar sounding award Momtazuddin Ahmed Natyakar Puroshkar is conferred by a separate organization since 2020 2021 – Ferdousi Mazumder 2022 – Mamunur Rashid 2023 – Ramendu Majumdar 2025 – Tariq Anam Khan
Abu Rushd Literature Award This award was introduced in 2021 as a tribute to academic and writer Abu Rushd Matinuddin to recognize Bangladeshi authors. 2021 – Anwara Syed Haq and Wasi Ahmed 2023 – Mohammad Harun-Ur-Rashid 2025 – Shibabrata Barman
Rabeya Khatun Fiction Award 2022 – Jyoti Prakash and Swakrita Noman 2025 – Subrata Barua and Anisur Rahman
Presidents Years President Profession1961–1961 Mohammad Akram Khan Journalist and politician1962–1963 Mohammad Barkatullah Writer1964–1965 Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda Educationist1969–1971 Syed Murtaza Ali Writer and historian1972–1974 Zainul Abedin Painter1975–1977 Syed Murtaza Ali 1977–1979 Syed Ali Ahsan Poet and educator1980–1982 Abdul Haque Faridi Islamic scholar1982–1983 Abu Mohammed Habibullah1986–1990 Abdullah-Al-Muti Educationist1990–1992 Gazi Shamsur Rahman Lawyer1993–1994 Abdur Rahman Chowdhury Justice1994–1996 Gazi Shamsur Rahman 1996–1999 Shamsur Rahman Poet1999–2002 Anisuzzaman 2002–2006 Wakil Ahmed 2007–2009 M Harunur Rashid 2009–2011 Kabir Chowdhury 2011–2020 Anisuzzaman2020–2021 Shamsuzzaman Khan Folklorist2021–2021 Rafiqul Islam 2022–2024 Selina Hossain Novelist2024–2026 Abul Kashem Fazlul HaqAbul Kashem Fazlul Haq appointed president of Bangla Academy, The Daily Star, 27 October 2024 Educationist
List of honorary fellows As of 2022, there are 193 persons made honorary fellows by the academy.
Footnotes
References
External links