Poet Mohon Raihan fails to get Bangla Academy Award despite being nominated

The Bangla Academy had named poet Mohon Raihan as a recipient of its annual literary award, but did not confer the prize on him, alongside other awardees, on Thursday, amid “multiple allegations of misconduct against him.”

The state-run literary institution formally handed over the prize to other recipients on Thursday afternoon, but Mohon Raihan was not called to the stage.

Officials at the cultural ministry said the Bangla Academy had nominated the poet during the interim government’s tenure. But the formal handover was withheld on Thursday, amid new allegations against him over “improper literary works.”

The final decision on the poet’s eligibility will be decided after reviewing the allegations, said Cultural Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury in an exchange with journalists.

On Monday, the Bangla Academy issued a press release announcing the list of recipients, including Mohon Raihan.

On Thursday, Mohon Raihan published a facebook post over the halt on award handover. The Bangla Academy nominated him for the 2025 Literary Prize even as he had no expectations for it, nor had made any solicitations, he said in the post.

On Wednesday, he was called with other recipients to rehearse receiving the prize, and even at the beginning of the formal event on Thursday, his name was announced, Mohon Raihan wrote in the post.

But, afterwards, he was not called to the stage, he added.

Later, he learnt that a “quarter” influenced Tarique Rahman to withhold the prize over a 41-year-old poem by him on Col Taher, the poet further said in the facebook post.