Amir Hamza’s Swadhinata Award cancelled

The government has cancelled the Swadhinata Award (independence award) of Md Amir Hamza amid severe criticism.

The cabinet division published the revised list of the names of award recipients in a gazette notification on Friday dropping Amir Hamza’s name.

The government revised the decision as it drew severe criticism. Earlier, the government decided to confer the award on Amir Hamza posthumously for his contribution to literature.

Hamza is a hardly known figure in the country’s literature arena and doesn’t have any notable literary works that would make him eligible for such an honour.

Later, it was revealed that Amir Hamza was also accused in a murder case.

This year, 10 persons and one organisation were named as recipients.

Amir Hamza passed away on 23 January 2019 at the age of 87.