The Independence Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the

government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

. Introduced in 1977 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

, this award is bestowed upon

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

citizens or organizations in recognition of substantial contributions to one of many fields, including the War of Liberation, the Language Movement, education, literature, journalism, public service, science and technology, medical science, social science, song, games and sports, fine arts,

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

, and other areas. Each awardee receives a gold medal, a certificate of honour, and 500,000

Bangladeshi taka The taka (, , currency sign, sign: , ISO 4217, code: BDT, Short form (linguistics), short form: Tk) is the currency of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of banknotes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while the ...

s (US$4109). A cabinet committee on national awards prepares the list of each year's nominees and forwards the list to the head of the government for final approval. The award is traditionally presented on the eve of

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

in Bangladesh at a much publicized ceremony attended by several cabinet and parliament members and distinguished society guests. In 2006, the award generated some controversy as the initial list was not accepted by the Prime Minister, some government ministers had expressed concern over the nomination of three fellow ministers. Furthermore, the award to the

Rapid Action Battalion Rapid Action Battalion (; abbreviated as RAB) is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Police, Border Guard ...

was criticized by many because of RAB's alleged involvement in

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...

Awards by decade

* List of Independence Day Award recipients (1977–1979) *

List of Independence Day Award recipients (1980–1989) Independence Day Award, Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the ...

List of Independence Day Award recipients (1990–1999) Independence Day Award, Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among th ...

List of Independence Day Award recipients (2000–2009) Independence Day Award, Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the ...

List of Independence Day Award recipients (2010–2019) Independence Day Award, Bangladesh's highest civilian honours - Winners, 2010-2019: 2010 Ten people and an organisation were awarded. as below: 2011 Two institutions and seven people were awarded . 2012 Ten people received the award. 20 ...

* List of Independence Day Award recipients (2020–2029)

References

External links

List of awardees
Cabinet Division, Bangladesh Government * {{Bengali honours and decorations Civil awards and decorations of Bangladesh Awards established in 1977 1977 establishments in Bangladesh Bangladeshi media awards