National Professor Rafiqul Islam dies at 87

National Professor Rafiqul Islam, also the Chairman of Bangla Academy, passed away at Evercare Hospital in the capital on Tuesday. He was 87.
"The eminent professor breathed his last at 2:30 pm," a source close to his family told UNB.
The body of Dr Rafiqul Islam will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar on Wednesday at 2 pm for people to pay their last respects.
He will be buried at Azimpur Graveyard after Asr prayers on Wednesday, according to his family sources.
Prof Rafiqul Islam, also the Director of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)'s Centre for Bangla Studies, was put on life support at the Evercare Hospital on November 26.
He was admitted to the hospital a week prior to that, and got shifted to the High Dependency Unit of the hospital after his condition worsened.
Born on January 1, 1934 at Kolakanda village, Matlab upazila in Chandpur district to Dr Md Zulfiker Ali and Jannatunesa, Prof Rafiqul Islam completed his MA in Bangla from Dhaka University in 1956. He was an active participant in the 1952 Language Movement.
One of the most respected Nazrul researchers, Rafiqul Islam was the first Nazrul Professor at the Bangla department of Dhaka University and the first director of the Nazrul Research Centre. He has penned about 30 books, including the first book on martyred intellectuals and the first book on the centenary history of Dhaka University.
For his excellence in the field of academia and culture, Professor Dr Rafiqul Islam has received Independence Award (2012), Ekushey Padak (2001), Bangla Academy Literary Award (1994) and International Mother Language Award.
Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday expressed deep condolence over the death of National Professor Rafiqul Islam. In a condolence message, the President said that the death of the eminent academician was an irreparable loss to the country's education and culture.