Staff Correspondent: Ekushey Medal-winning Nazrul researcher National Professor Rafiqul Islam is no more (Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilahi Raziun). He was 87 years old at the time of his death.

He breathed his last on Tuesday (November 30) at around 2.30 pm while undergoing treatment at the Evercare Hospital in the capital.

The duty officer of the hospital said. Abhijit confirmed the matter to the media.

Professor Rafiqul Islam was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in Dhaka on October 7 with abdominal pain. After examination, he was found to have accumulated water in his lungs. Since then, he has been undergoing treatment under the supervision of AKM Mosharraf Hossain, Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, BSMMU. Although the family members wanted to take him to India for better treatment, Rafiqul Islam did not agree.

Evercare duty officer Abhijit Roy said that on November 21, Professor Rafiqul Islam was taken to Evercare Hospital from BSMMU. His breathing started after he was taken there.

Professor Rafiqul Islam is the first Nazrul-Professor of the Bangla Department of Dhaka University and the first Director of Nazrul Research Center. At the same time, he actively participated in the language movement. Rafiqul Islam has written and edited about 30 books, including the first book on martyred intellectuals and the first book on the centenary history of Dhaka University.

During his lifetime, Rafiqul Islam has been awarded Ekushey Award, Independence Day Award and Bangla Academy Award. She was also awarded the first International Mother Tongue Medal announced in February this year. Rafiqul Islam, President of the National Implementation Committee for the Celebration of Bangabandhu's Birth Centenary, has also served as the President of the Bangla Academy. In 2018, the government declared him a national professor.