People from all walks of life gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar on Saturday to pay their final respects to language movement veteran, poet, essayist, and Rabindra scholar Ahmad Rafique.
His coffin was placed at the monument where admirers, colleagues, and well-wishers paid tribute to the life and legacy of the 96-year-old intellectual.
According to the Ahmad Rafique Foundation, after the public homage, his body will be taken to BIRDEM Hospital and donated to Ibrahim Medical College as per his last wish, to be used for medical training and research purposes.
Ahmad Rafique passed away Thursday night at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of BIRDEM Hospital in Dhaka. Born on 12 September 1929 in Brahmanbaria, he lived alone in a rented flat at Gaush Nagar, New Eskaton. He lost his wife in 2006 and had no children.
A key historian of the 1952 Language Movement, Rafique authored and edited over a hundred books and received numerous honors, including the Ekushey Padak and the Bangla Academy Award. His scholarly contributions to Rabindra studies earned him the title “Rabindratattwacharya” from the Tagore Research Institute in Kolkata.
In later years, Rafique’s health deteriorated — his eyesight weakened in 2019 despite surgery, and by 2023 he was almost completely blind. Following a leg fracture in 2021, his physical condition continued to decline until his death.
