Language movement veteran Ahmed Rafiq dies

Language movement veteran Ahmed Rafiq has passed away. He died at 10:12 pm on Thursday (October 2) while undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of BIRDEM Hospital in the capital. He was 96.

The information was confirmed to Jago News by the hospital’s public relations officer, Farid Kabir.

Farid Kabir said the body is currently kept at the hospital morgue. It will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar at 11:00 am on Friday for people to pay their respects.

Earlier, as his condition deteriorated, he was put on life support on Wednesday afternoon. Doctors at the hospital said he suffered a cardiac arrest seven minutes before being declared dead.

According to hospital sources, his treatment was being supervised by Kaniz Fatema, head of the ICU department at BIRDEM. Alongside kidney complications, he had recently suffered several mild strokes.

On September 11, he was discharged from Labaid Hospital and later admitted to Health and Hope Hospital in Panthapath. However, due to the lack of necessary medical facilities there, he was transferred to BIRDEM Hospital on Sunday (September 28).