Swadhinata Padak: MOPA to take action against Khulna zila parishad CEO

The cabinet division has asked the public administration ministry to take departmental action against Khulna Zila Parishad Asaduzzaman CEO Asaduzzaman for concealing information in the application for Swadhinata Padak (Independence Award) 2022, said sources.

Seeking anonymity, an official of the public administration ministry said, "As the Cabinet has asked for taking action, we're taking preparations to initiate departmental proceedings."

On March 15, the Cabinet announced one institution and 10 individuals including Amir Hamza as recipients of this year's Independence Award.

Hamza was selected in the literature category.

Later, it came to light that Amir Hamza, who died in 2019, had served nine years in a murder case.

Ever since the name of Amir Hamza was published, there has been a lot of discussion and criticism in the media and social media about the issue.

According to media reports, Asaduzzaman, son of Amir Hamza, applied for the award.

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh made the recommendation and after scrutiny, the Cabinet Committee on National Award finalised the list of awardees.

When the conviction of Hamza came to the fore, the government dropped his name. The cabinet also sought an explanation for the recommendation from Tapan Kanti Ghosh.

In reply, Tapan Kanti said Asaduzzaman concealed information about the conviction from him and he did not either scrutinise independently.

Upon his reply, the cabinet has asked the public administration to take action. "We'll issue a show-cause notice to Asaduzzaman and will seek his explanation. A draft of show-cause notice is being prepared," said an official of the Discipline Wing of the Public Administration.

Issuing show-cause notice is the first step of filing a departmental case, he added.

Earlier, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque termed the inclusion of Hamza's name in the list a failure of the respective cabinet committee.

At a press conference after the exclusion of Amir Hamza's name, Mozammel Haque, also member of the selection committee, said, "There were mistakes. It's a collective failure and the committee's failure."