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Published : 07 Sep 2025, 01:10 AM
Language Movement veteran Ahmed Rafique has been admitted to hospital in Dhaka once again after his health deteriorated.
He was taken to Labaid Hospital shortly after 9pm on Saturday, his personal aide Abul Kalam told bdnews24.com.
He said, “Sir was already undergoing treatment at the hospital. He was brought home on Friday morning after showing some improvement, but his condition worsened again this morning.
“Later at night, he was admitted to hospital. He is there now.”
The 96-year-old has long been unwell with multiple complications. A spinal fracture has left him mostly immobile and confined indoors.
Rafique’s name is inseparably tied to the Language Movement, one of the greatest achievements of Bengalis, when he was a student at Dhaka Medical College.
On Feb 21, 1952, Bengalis shed blood to secure the right to their mother tongue, a struggle that eventually paved the way for independence through armed resistance in 1971.
Rafique was then a third-year medical student, maintaining links with students of Fazlul Huq Hall, Dhaka Hall and Mitford while taking part regularly in rallies and processions.
In 1954, he was the only Dhaka Medical College student activist to face an arrest warrant, though he resurfaced publicly by late 1955 and resumed his studies.
Although he completed his MBBS degree, Rafique did not practise medicine. His first collection of essays, Shilpa Sanskriti Jibon (Art, Culture, Life), came out in 1958, setting him on a lifelong path of writing.
Born on Sept 12, 1929, in Brahmanbaria, the nonagenarian author has been honoured with the Ekushey Padak, Bangla Academy Award, among other accolades.
