People from all walks of life paid their final respects on Saturday to language movement veteran, essayist, and Rabindra scholar Ahmad Rafiq at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
According to the Ahmad Rafiq Foundation, which was established in his name, his body will be donated to Birdem Hospital (Ibrahim Medical College) in accordance with his last wish following the tributes.
At around 11am, his body was brought to Shaheed Minar, where citizens, organizations, and admirers gathered to honor him. After the homage, a funeral procession carried his body to Ibrahim Medical College Hospital for donation to support the training and research of medical students.
Ahmad Rafiq, a veteran of the 1952 Language Movement, passed away on Thursday at Birdem Hospital. He was 96 and had been suffering from multiple ailments, including diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney failure, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, electrolyte imbalance, bedsores, and lung infections.
Born on September 12, 1929, in Shahbazpur village of Brahmanbaria, Ahmad Rafiq completed his Higher Secondary Certificate from Haraganga College in Munshiganj before enrolling in the Department of Chemistry at Dhaka University. He later switched to Dhaka Medical College due to a lack of residential facilities.
In 1952, during his third year, he actively participated in rallies, meetings, and processions alongside students of Fazlul Huq Hall, Dhaka Hall, and Mitford. In 1954, he was the only Dhaka Medical College student against whom an arrest warrant was issued during the agitations. By the end of 1955, he resumed public life and completed his MBBS, though he did not pursue a medical career.