Mehedi Hasan Khan Receives Ekushey Padak in Science and Technology
Ekushey Padak 2025: Mehedi Hasan Khan and 14 Others Honored for Distinguished Contributions
Mehedi Hasan Khan, a pioneer of the digital revolution in the Bengali language and the creator of the Avro Keyboard, has been selected for the prestigious Ekushey Padak 2025. He is among 14 distinguished individuals and the Bangladesh National Women’s Football Team, who will receive the award for their remarkable contributions in various fields. Despite being a medical professional, Mehedi Hasan Khan’s dedication to simplifying Bengali typing through his programming expertise has left an indelible mark on the digital landscape.
Earlier, in 2011, he received the BASIS Award for his outstanding contribution to the information technology sector. The Ekushey Padak 2025 is a recognition of his relentless efforts over the years.
Born in Dhaka, Mehedi Hasan Khan completed his secondary education at Ideal School and College and his higher secondary studies at Notre Dame College. He later obtained an MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College. His passion for software development emerged at an early age. In 2003, he created Avro Keyboard, a free and open-source software supporting both Unicode and ANSI standards for Bengali typing. Inspired by an exhibition organized by BIOS at the book fair that year, he conceived the idea of developing a more user-friendly Bengali writing tool. Initially, he attempted to create a prototype using Microsoft .NET Framework, but it encountered multiple challenges. Eventually, he developed a more stable version using Classic Visual Basic, which became a revolutionary tool for Bengali typing.
On March 26, 2003, Avro Keyboard was first launched, followed by its official release from OmicronLab on September 15, 2003. The software was even utilized by the Bangladesh Election Commission for the preparation of national identity cards.
In other categories, Dr. Shahidul Alam has been nominated for the award in Culture and Education, while Dr. Niaz Zaman has been recognized for her contributions to Education. In Social Service, the late Mohammad Yusuf Chowdhury has been selected posthumously.
In the field of Journalism, the late Mahfuz Ullah has been awarded posthumously, while Mahmudur Rahman has been honored for his contributions to both Journalism and Human Rights.
In the Language and Literature category, poet Helal Hafiz (posthumously) and Shahidul Zahir (Md. Shahidul Haque) (posthumously) have been selected.
For Research, Moeedul Hasan has been nominated, while the Bangladesh National Women’s Football Team has been recognized for their contributions to Sports.
On Thursday, February 6, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs announced the names of the recipients. At a press conference held at the Secretariat, Cultural Affairs Advisor Mostofa Sarwar Farooki officially declared the awardees.
As per the award policy, each recipient will receive a one-time cash prize of BDT 400,000, a 35-gram gold medal, a replica, and a certificate of honor.
The Ekushey Padak, the second-highest civilian honor in Bangladesh, is awarded annually in remembrance of the martyrs of the Language Movement. Since its inception in 1976, the government has presented this award in recognition of exceptional contributions at the national level in fields such as literature, arts, education, linguistics, journalism, research, economics, poverty alleviation, and social service.
