Ekushey Padak winner Polan Sarkar, who distributed books for free among the people, has died at the age of 98.
Sarkar, who had long been suffering from old-age complications, breathed his last at his village home in the northern district of Rajshahi on Friday (Mar 1), said his son Haidar Ali.
His namaz-e-janaza will be held at 10am on Saturday on the Harun-ar-Rashid High School premises on Saturday (Mar 2).
Then, he will be buried at the family graveyard in his village, Bausha, of the district’s Bagha Upazila.
Sarkar is survived by six sons and three daughters.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Sarkar.
In a condolence message, the prime minister recalled his contributions to building a movement for reading books in the country. She also prayed for the salvation of the departed soul and conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved family.
Born in 1921, his real name was Harez Uddin. Sarkar, who started a social movement of reading books, was affectionately called ‘Alor Ferrywala’, the distributor of light.
He had been distributing books on foot to students and villagers free of charge for the past 30 years and gifted books to meritorious students.
Sarker won the Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh’s second-highest civilian award, in 2011 for the recognition of his contribution to the society.