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The National Book Centre organised the award-giving ceremony of an essay competition to mark the birth centenary of Tajuddin Ahmed, the first prime minister of Bangladesh and the pioneer of independence, at the book centre in Dhaka on Monday.

Writer Moyeedul Hasan, Tajuddin’s daughter and writer Sharmin Ahmed and writer and activist Firoz Ahmed were present as guests at the ceremony, which was presided over by director of the National Book Centre fiction writer Afsana Begum, said a press release.

Firoz Ahmed said that Tajuddin Ahmed always spoke to Indians with self-respect. ‘He never belittled the country. Sheikh Mujib was afraid of Tajuddin because he thought Tajuddin Ahmed could seize the state power of the country at any time.’

While reminiscing about her father, Sharmin Ahmed, said, ‘During the Liberation War, my father was away from us. He used to say, freedom fighters are away from their families, how can I stay with my family?’

Mentioning that Tajuddin Ahmed loved animals and birds very much, she said, ‘Love for humanity was one of the characteristics of his character. He never bowed down to anyone.’

Moyeedul Hasan said that no such discussion was ever organised about him. ‘What an unknown fear haunted us. But now it is time to know the real history.’

Afsana Begum said that Tajuddin was a pioneer of independence of the country. ‘His foresight and strong leadership in the provisional government during the Liberation War are certainly commendable.’

But sadly, we could not give him the respect he deserved after independence, Afsana Begum mentioned, hoping that the nation will end all discrimination and give its worthy son the rightful status.

In the competition, 31 readers initially selected in two categories – 16 in category A and 15 in category B–in the final evaluation.

Writer Suhan Rizwan, writer Sajjad Arefin and Afsana Begum evaluated the essays.

The first five best readers selected in each of the two categories based on the highest marks in the final evaluation of the competition each awarded a book worth Tk 2,000, a prize bond of Tk 1,000 and a certificate.