Language Movement hero National Professor Sufia Ahmed dies

National Professor Dr Sufia Ahmed, a Language Movement hero, has died undergoing treatment at a Dhaka hospital, her family said. She was 87.

Son-in-law Anatul Fateh said she was admitted to the United Hospital in Dhaka for pneumonia on Mar 15 but died on Thursday “following cardiac arrest”.

Her only daughter Raina Fateh was at the hospital.

Wife of the late barrister Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, she taught Islamic History at Dhaka University.

Their only son, Justice Syed Refat Ahmed, is a judge at the High Court Division.

Born on Nov 20, 1932, Née Sufia Ibrahim, in Faridpur, she enrolled in the Dhaka University’s Islamic History and Culture Department in 1950.

She was one of the students who, two years later, on Feb 21, defied a ban on gathering by taking out a procession during the Language Movement.

Sufia joined her department as a teacher in the 60s. She also worked in several institutions abroad.

She had been a director of Bangladesh Bank and also president of Bangladesh Itihas Parishad or history council.

The government awarded her Ekushey Padak for her role in the Language Movement in 2002.