Cultural icons receive ShilpakalaPadak 2018

Cultural Correspondent
Seven noted cultural personalities have been honoured with the prestigious Shilpakala Padak 2018 at ceremony held at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) on Thursday.
Gracing the ceremony as chief guest, President Abdul Hamid handed over the awards to seven cultural luminaries for their outstanding contributions to their respective fields.
On this occasion, President M Abdul Hamid,: “Promote healthy culture .You have to use culture as a weapon to eradicate filthiness from society.”
Describing culture as a safeguard against social degradation, President Hamid also said: “The flourishing of culture is very important for removing militancy, fanaticism and animosity from society.
“Due to satellite culture, foreign culture is now encroaching on local culture. We have to accept all good things that go with our culture and heritage,” he added.
The president also said cultural personalities can never do any harm to society. President Hamid urged guardians to inspire their children to engage in different cultural activities along with their studies.
The President handed over the prestigious ShilpakalaPadak 2018 to the seven cultural personalities in seven categories.
The recipients of the awards are — Alakesh Ghosh in fine arts, M Hamid in dramatics, Sunil Chandra Das in instrumental music, Shukla Sarkar in dance, Gaur Gopal Haldar in vocal music, Jayanta Chattopadhyay in recitation, and Mina Barua in folk culture.
State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M Khalid, MP, BSA Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky and acting secretary to the Cultural Affairs Ministry DrMd Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal also spoke on the occasion, among others.
The award giving ceremony was followed by a cultural event.