Professor Dilara Hafiz, a formidable academician and prolific writer, breathed her last on Saturday, March 28, at Singapore General Hospital. She was 78.
While many knew her as the wife of Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Prof Hafiz carved out a singular identity through her lifelong devotion to the classroom and the pen.
As confirmed by BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan, her death follows a period of medical treatment in Singapore, though her influence remains deeply rooted in the classrooms and administrative halls of the country she served for decades.
Born in Sunamganj to Mohammad Abul Hossain Chowdhury and Karimunnesa Khatun Chowdhury, Dilara Hafiz was a product of the transformative 1960s intellectual culture at Dhaka University.
After earning her BA in History in 1968 and her Master’s the following year, she embarked on a career that would see her rise from a lecturer at Government Eden College to some of the most influential positions in the state’s education sector. Her journey was one of institutional building; she served with distinction as the Principal of both Suhrawardy College and Eden College, eventually taking the helm as the Chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and the Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.
Beyond the formal corridors of power, she was a woman of letters who found solace in the written word. Her literary contributions, including the evocative Dur Durante Achena Digante, revealed a mind that was as curious about the world’s horizons as it was disciplined in its academic pursuits.
While she was a constant support to her husband, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, she remained a formidable force in her own right – a mentor to thousands of students and a visionary who helped shape the very textbooks from which the nation’s youth still learn.
As the nation prepares to receive her body on Sunday evening, the final rites have been arranged to honour a life spent in public service. Her first funeral prayer is scheduled for March 30 at 11:00 am at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, followed by a second prayer after Zuhr at the central mosque in Dhaka Cantonment.
Survived by her husband, her sons Shahrukh and Taharat, and her daughter Shamama Shahreen, Professor Dilara Hafiz will be laid to rest at the Banani Military Cemetery.
She leaves behind a void in the literary and academic circles that will be difficult to fill, yet her footprint remains indelible in the history of Bangladeshi education.