On the occasion of the Bengali New Year Celebrations on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at the Pleasantview Community Hall in Edmonton, Alberta the Mahinur Jahid Memorial Foundation (MJMF) held an award ceremony to honour the recipients of the Ekushey Youth Awards 2015. The award nominees were announced earlier at International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2015.
Recipients of MJMF's Ekushey Youth Awards 2015
(ltr) Sheikh Jalil, Delwar Jahid, Ahsan Ullah Rony
The Bengali New Year celebration held each year in mid-April marks the start of the spring season. It was celebrated in form of a festival, which is known as Boishakhi Mela, and which includes a colorful cultural program. Delwar Jahid, president of the Bangladesh Heritage and Ethnic Society of Alberta (BHESA), inaugurated the program with a speech about the importance of such festivals and celebrations, as these are an integral part of the Bangladeshi culture and a great opportunity for the people in the community and especially for a younger audience to experience the cultural heritage of Bangladesh.
Later that evening, Delwar Jahid handed over the Ekushey Youth Awards to the nominated recipients, who received the honour during a handshake ceremony. The crest and citation was given to Sheikh Jalil, who was awarded for his achievments in journalism and his literary work, and Ahsan Ullah Rony, who reveived the honour for his skillful organizations of youth sports events in the community.
The Ekushey Youth Awards was brought into life by the Mahinur Jahid Memorial Foundation (MJMF) under assistance of the Bangladesh PressClub Centre of Alberta (BPCA) in 2015. The spirit behind the awards is based in the inspiration drawn from International Mother Language Day, a celebration event proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and inspired by a day, where students in Bangladesh were shot and killed by police during a demonstration for the recognition of their language. Today International Mother Language Day may serve as a reminder of the rich existance of linguistic and cultural diversity in our civilization. A number of organizations have started to recognize individual people for outstanding services in the community, and to promote topics like the preservation of linguistic diversity amoung others.
The Ekushey Youth Awards will be awarded annually to recipients, who stand out inspiring a young audience with their work and contributions in the fields of education, sports, youth activities, literature and community services. The Mahinur Jahid Memorial Foundation (MJMF) may award the honour multiple times, and has opened the award for residents of the Province of Alberta in Canada. The Ekushey Youth Awards is announced on February 21st on International Mother Language Day.
