Renowned writer, researcher, and language movement veteran Ahmed Rafiq has passed away at the age of 96. His mortal remains were taken to Ibrahim Medical College Hospital on Saturday (September 4) in a coffin procession, where it was revealed that he had donated his body for the advancement of medical education and research.
Rafiq breathed his last on Thursday at 10:12 pm while undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of BIRDEM Hospital in Dhaka. He had long been suffering from multiple health complications, including kidney problems and mild strokes. Despite months of treatment across several hospitals, his condition continued to deteriorate until his final days on life support.
Born on September 12, 1929, in Brahmanbaria, Ahmed Rafiq was celebrated across both Bengals as a poet, essayist, Rabindra scholar, and cultural thinker. A frontline participant in the 1952 Language Movement, he was awarded the Ekushey Padak, the Bangla Academy Literary Award, and numerous international honors. The Tagore Research Institute in Kolkata conferred upon him the title “Rabindratattwacharya” for his contributions to Rabindra studies.
Author and editor of over a hundred books, Rafiq’s works spanned literature, culture, politics, and social thought. Despite losing his eyesight in later years and battling frailty after a severe fall in 2021, he continued to live surrounded by his lifelong companions—his writings and vast personal library.
He spent his final years in solitude at a rented apartment in Dhaka’s New Eskaton, following the death of his wife in 2006. Childless, he devoted himself entirely to intellectual pursuits and literary contributions that left an indelible mark on Bangladesh’s cultural and historical landscape.
