DHAKA: Poet Habibullah Siraji has been appointed as the new director general of Bangla Academy.

He took charge as DG of Bangla Academy on Thursday for three years as per gazette notification issued by Public Administration Ministry today, says a source at Bangla Academy.

Habibullah Siraji was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2016 by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution to language and literature. He also was awarded the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1991.

Siraji was born in Faridpur on Dec 31, 1948. He has written many books of poetry, memoirs novels and essays.

Siraji replaced Shamsuzzaman Khan. The post had remained vacant since Shamsuzzaman left as his tenure ended in May after 10 years.

BDST: 2004 HRS, DEC 20, 2018

RS/SMS