Gias Uddin Award: Proud winners carry home laurels

Wahida Rahaman Ava (2-L) receiving her crest.Photo: STAR

The Gias Uddin Award was introduced in 1999 in memory of the martyred intellectuals in the course of the Liberation War. The aim is to honour senior theatre activists or organisations of the Barisal region for their contribution to theatre.
This year's theatre honours, went to Wahida Rahaman Ava respectively. The Barisal Sanskritik Sangatan Samannay Parishad (BSSSP) arranged the prize-giving programme on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Gias Uddin at Barisal NGO Network Development Society (BNDN) recently.
Theatre icons and president of BSSSP Syed Dulal and Mintu Bose, group theatre activists announced the name of the winner while Kajal Ghosh delivered the welcome speech. Nikhil Sen, cultural personality was the chief guest. Syed Dulal chaired the event.
Among those who attended the function were Nazrul Islam Chunnu, president of Barisal unit of Rabindra Sangeet Sammilon Parishad (RSSP) and Freedom Fighter Akkash Hossian. Others who turned up at the event were intellectuals, teachers, litterateurs and journalists.
In her brief speech, an emotional Ava said, " I am very happy to receive this award. Gias Uddin's has made an immense contribution to our culture, language and heritage. His acting career along with writings and songs should be preserved for generations to come. Thereby we can express our respect for this great personality."
After the award giving ceremony, Sheikh Nur Mohammad, friend of Gias Uddin, paid tributes to his friend. In the discussion session, Sahana Begum presented a paper written in remembrance of her husband.