With immense pride, we would like to congratulate our Head of Trustees Prof Geetha Upadhyaya on receiving the prestigious Begum Rokeya Award on Sunday 7th March, International Women’s Day 2021.
This award is named after the Great Begum Rokeya (1880-1932), a feminist thinker, writer, and an activist. This Bangladeshi national honour is given by the Government of Bangladesh to an individual woman for their exceptional achievements. Prof Geetha Upadhyaya has been contributing phenomenally to the British cultural scene for the last few decades. In recognition of her services, The Gronthee and Saudha Society of Poetry and Indian Music, cultural organisations run by people of Bangladeshi origin have chosen her to receive this award. It’s a matter of immense pride that we have her in our midst in Bradford Hindu Council and she is an inspiration to all of us here.
The felicitation event was graced by the honorable Lord Mayor of Leeds City Council Cllr Asghar Khan, Fabian Hamilton MP – an extremely pro-people politician and firm supporter of South Asian arts, the chief whip of British Parliament Stuart Andrew MP, the 8th Earl of Harewood Lord David Lascelles, the founder of Purobi Bengali Cultural Society Leeds group Abdul Quddus and poet Jon Erik Schelander.
Our thanks to Dr Kaniz Fatema Chowdhury for organizing this beautiful event. Many thanks to all the media journalists, academics, cultural leaders, social activists from different communities for joining and making the event a memorable one.
