Today we will be talking about the life story of someone who was simultaneously a national professor, emeritus professor, language warrior, author, Kazi Nazrul researcher, and many more credentials can be added in his name.
He was a simple, young university going boy who used a camera to take some shots during the language movement of 1952, and now thanks to those photos we now can see the authentic history. Additionally, he was part of all the historical movements of Bangladesh, and therefore through his writings, we can learn and carry the legacy of our history. Also, because of his intense research on the field of our national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, we can now understand Nazrul’s works, morals, values a little better. Finally, thanks to his writings about not only historical or cultural matters of Bangladesh, but also about our Bangla language and its grammar, we the young generation can retain the correct form and use of our mother tongue. Our education sector had developed and diversified because of this man’s contributions in the teaching line for 62 years. He is Professor Rafiqul Islam.
Life of “Rafiqul Islam” at a glance:
Date of Birth: 1 January 1934
Birth Place: Kola Kanda village, Matlab Upazila, Chandpur district
Date of Death: 30 November 2021
Place of Death: Evercare Hospital, Dhaka
Buried Place: Azimpur graveyard, Dhaka
Cause of Death: Lungs failure
Age: 87
Father’s Name: Dr Md Zulfiker Ali
Mother’s Name: Jannatunesa
Education:
➢ SSC, St. Gregory’s High School & College, Dhaka
➢ Matriculation, in 1949
➢ HSC, Dhaka Govt. College
➢ Master’s degree, Bangla Language and Literature, Dhaka University, in 1956
➢ Linguistics, Fulbright Scholarship, Yale University, The USA, in 1959
➢ Master’s degree, general linguistics and cultural anthropology, Cornell University, in 1960
➢ Training and research, in linguistics, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, and the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii, the USA.
➢ PhD degree, University of Dhaka, in 1976.
➢ PhD degree, life and works of Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, University of Dhaka, in 1977
Professions:
➢ Research scholar-cum-lecturer, University of Dhaka
➢ Assistant professor, department of Bangla, University of Dhaka, in 1961
➢ Professor, Department Of Linguistics, University of Dhaka
➢ Head, Bangla department, University of Dhaka
➢ Linguistics consultant for Bangla Language Programmes, Vermont and the University of Minnesota, MS Peace Corps, the USA, in 1963
➢ Emeritus Professor and Adviser of the Center for Bangla, ULAB, from 2011 to till his death
➢ National Professor, in 2018
➢ Member, Board of Trustee, ULAB
➢ Vice-Chancellor, ULAB, from 2007 to 2011
➢ Director General, Bangla Academy, from April-December 2001
➢ Chairman, Bangla Academy, from June 2021 till his death
➢ President, Bangla Academy, in 2021
➢ Chairman, National Implementation Committee for Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 100th Anniversary Celebration
➢ Editor-in-Chief, Dhaka Nazrul Academy
➢ Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Nazrul Institute.
➢ Co-editor, Bangla Academy’s Pramita Bangla Bhashar Byakaran
➢ Chief editor, Nazrul Rachanbali (Nazrul Omnibus)
➢ Author and editor of several books
Married to: Jahanara Islam
Children: 2
Religion: Islam
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Awards and Achievements:
➢ Nazrul Academy Award, Churulia, West Bengal (1987)
➢ Nazrul Institute Award (1987)
➢ Bangla Academy Literary Award (1984)
➢ Ekushey Padak (2001)
➢ Channel-i LifeTime Award (2010)
➢ Marchentail Bank Life Time Award (2011)
➢ Independence Day Award (2012)
➢ Star Lifetime Award (2016)
➢ Bangla Academy Shommanona (2017)
➢ National Professor recognition (2018)
➢ International Mother Language Award (2021)
Early Life and Education:
On 1 January, 1934, Professor Rafiq was born at the Kola Kanda village of Matlab Upazila in Chandpur district. He belonged to a decent Muslim family. His father was a doctor named, Dr Md Zulfiker Ali, and mother was a housewife, Jannatunesa.
In an interview, he told that in his childhood days, he used to live in the railway colony of Dhaka. That time, in 1948, he was in class 10, and he would see students participating in different processions. Later, in 1951, when he became a student of University of Dhaka, he directly got involved in the Bangla Language, Literature and Cultural Movement.
Since his childhood days, he had equally managed his academic life and other social, political, and cultural activities. He had earned lots of degrees, but did not forget to spend his knowledge for the development of our country.
Education:
Even though not much information is known about his earlier education, Professor Rafiqul Islam once told in an interview that he was a student of St. Gregory’s High School & College in Dhaka during his secondary level. That’s why it can be said that he did his SSC exams from there. Later, he studied and completed his HSC exams from Dhaka Government College. Then he passed matriculation in 1949. 2 years later, in 1951, he joined University of Dhaka.
In 1956, he completed his MA degree in Bangla language and literature from the university. Just after completing his studies, he joined the university to build up his career. But within 3 years, in 1959, he earned a Fulbright scholarship to study Linguistics. This scholarship is one of the several Cultural Exchange Programs offered by the USA. Hence, Professor Rafiq took the opportunity to go abroad and make use of the scholarship. There he joined Yale University but obtained his second MA degree in ‘general linguistics and cultural anthropology’ in 1960 from Cornell University. Furthermore, he conducted some advanced training and research in linguistics at the University of Minnesota, the University of Michigan, and the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii. He then came back to Dhaka to continue his career. Later, he also achieved a PhD degree from Dhaka University in 1976.
Professor Rafiqul Islam was widely known and respected for his love, intensive research works, and also publishing worldwide the life and works of our national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam. His studies have helped Nazrul lovers in Bangladesh and India to understand Nazrul better. While Professor Rafiq was studying as well as working on different jobs, he devoted his life to the research works of Kazi Nazrul. He could manage everything simultaneously because of his passion. That is why In 1977, he received another PhD degree from University of Dhaka for his extensive research on the life and writings of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Being such a meritorious person, with lots of knowledge and skills, he had implied all these for the development of the education sector of his own motherland. That is why he had an iconic and diverse career throughout his life.
Career:
The national Professor and Professor Emeritus of Bangladesh, Professor Rafiqul Islam had spent around 62 years of his life solely in the teaching profession. Just after completing his first MA degree from University of Dhaka, from 1957 until his last breath, he carried the responsibility of teaching, relentlessly. Indeed, teaching someone and preparing him for leading the nation in the future is not an easy task. Among his favorite students was the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Hasina, our current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. The country realized how influential a teacher Professor Rafiqul Islam was when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took his hands and guided him to the parade ground on Bangabandhu’s homecoming day celebration as part of the Mujib 100 inauguration.
Moreover, besides teaching, Professor Rafiq was also involved in many other jobs which mostly included the area of academia.
First, he joined the University of Dhaka as a scholar-cum-lecturer. In 1961, after completing his degrees from the USA, he came back to University of Dhaka and joined as an assistant professor in the department of Bangla. Then he became Professor of the Department Of Linguistics and eventually became the Head of the Bangla department. He continued to teach there for 40 years straight, before his retirement in the year 2000.
Even at international levels, he worked as a teacher or a guide. He served as the Linguistics consultant for Bangla Language Programmes, at Vermont and the University of Minnesota, MS Peace Corps, the USA, in 1963.
He was a research guide for 11 M.Phil and 6 PhD research scholars from University of Dhaka.
At University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Professor Rafiq was made the Vice Chancellor from 2007 to 2011. He was also appointed as the Professor Emeritus and Advisor from 2011 until his last days, for the Center for Bangla Studies. He was also one of the members of the board of trustees at ULAB.
He had a deep and long relation with Bangla Academy till his death. He had written and published numerous books from the Bangla Academy. He was the Chief Editor of Nazrul Rachanbali (Nazrul Omnibus) published by Kabi Nazrul Institute, and Nazrul Birth Centenary Edition of Nazrul Rachanabali, published by Bangla Academy. He also served as the Co-editor of Bangla Academy’s Pramita Bangla Bhashar Byakaran. Eventually Professor Rafiq was made the director general of Bangla Academy in the year 2001, till 2002. Then on 18 May, 2021, he was appointed as the President of Bangla Academy for the next 3 years but unfortunately he left the earth before completing his tenure.
We already got to know his love and passion for the poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. That is why in his colorful career, he was engaged with different Nazrul related organizations too. He worked as an Editor-in-Chief for Dhaka Nazrul Academy. Also, he was made the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Nazrul Institute.He also served as the Chairman of National Implementation Committee for Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 100th Anniversary Celebration.
Such a person with varieties of difficult work, knowledge, skills and experience had contributed a lot for the development of our country. Thanks to his various contributions, our society has seen many changes mainly in the sector of academia as well as getting to know our history and culture properly.
Contributions:
Professor Rafiqul Islam has contributed immensely mainly for the historic and cultural development of Bangladesh. From his works, we can hear the correct history of Bangladesh, as well as develop our love and interest for other cultural aspects related to Bangladesh.
Contribution as a language warrior, in the language movement of 1952:
In 1952, Rafiqul Islam was a first-year student of University of Dhaka. We, the current generations of Bangladesh, tend to think that the language movement occurred only in 1952. But Professor Rafiqul Islam had rectified our misconception and taught us that till 1955, the language movement took place. At that time, a simple and young boy Rafiq, had a Voigtlander camera (one of the oldest cameras that could produce high-quality photos) which was always on his neck. When the language movement protest started, and section 144 was implied, the brave and valiant protester, Rafiq, decided to participate in the movement procession with his camera. That camera became his tool to capture and record the immediate reactions of the participants and family members of the victims of the Language Movement. That is how he had become one of the language movement activists. Despart not being one of the wounded people, Professor Rafiq was still one of parts of the procession that day.
In his photographs, he has meticulously presented to the world nation a series of events like preparing for the historic public meeting before breaking Section 144 on February 21st, 1952, the raising of the black flag atop the old Arts building of University of Dhaka on February 22nd, the Janaza prayer held in absentia followed by a large mourning assembly in the Dhaka Medical Hostel courtyard, the Shaheed Minar construction in 1953, the protest march by female students of Dhaka University holding banners, the construction of the Shaheed Minar by the students of Old Dhaka College and Eden College, the mourning procession by students, the prayer for the martyrs’ souls, the banner procession by students of Dhaka Art Institute at Paltan Maidan, the 1954 procession led by Ataur Rahman Khan and Oli Ahad, and the 1956 foundation stone laying of the current Shaheed Minar.
We are familiar with the phrase ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Through Professor Rafiq’s photographs, the new generation of Bangladesh can understand the history of our old Bangladesh and can continue the legacy that those photographs convey. The photographs, if analyzed critically, can interpret many hidden meanings like being fearless, love for the nation, to stand against wrongdoings etc.
We are lucky to have those photographs captured by Professor Rafiqul Islam.
Contribution as a writer:
Even though he was not directly involved in politics, Rafiqul Islam had always actively engaged in various social, cultural, and political issues. Through creating numerous articles and essays, he had demonstrated and had tried to find resolutions of those issues.
Writing was like a passion for him. He used simple, general language writings to convey the message and his writing style carried depth, and intense emotions to the readers. In his lifetime, he had written 65 remarkable books. His main themes were human spiritual liberation, creative development, and fundamental rights.
Since he himself was a part during the liberation war of Bangladesh, through his writings, he has preserved the history and heritage of the Liberation War. Even though he actively took part in the war, he got arrested by the Pakistani Army for 2 months. He had then authored several books during the wartime period. Also, from his writings, we can find stories of the unparalleled inspiration of ordinary people, the bright glory, and the steadfastness of Bengal’s identity during the war era. He had presented the correct history of Bangladesh to the future generations of Bangladesh so that we do not get divergent from our roots.
Some of his books about liberation war are: সম্মুখ সমরে বাঙালী, বীরের এ রক্ত¯স্রোত মাতার এ অশ্রুধারা, বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতার সংগ্রাম, আমাদের মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ সমগ্র, স্বাধীনতা সংগ্রামে ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, etc.
He had written the book “শেখ মুজিব সহস্রাব্দের শ্রেষ্ঠ বাঙালি” in order to pay deep respect to the father of the nation Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibor Rahman, who not only dreamt of having a successful, independent country, but also tried to turn the dream into reality.
We know that Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is an ancient city which has lots of heritage and pride. Professor Rafiqul Islam had written a historic book called ঢাকার কথা to present those history.
Rafiqul Islam’s writings had illustrated the journey of our society’s history, the barriers and struggles along the path of progress, and the narrative of struggle for liberation movements. The readers of his writings can learn about our both past and present society through his writings. His writings are lessons for us young generations to embrace them and move towards making our Bangladesh more developed in the future.
Contribution as a Researcher on Kazi Nazrul Islam:
We already got to know that Professor Rafiqul Islam had an immense love, interest and respect for our national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam. That is why, Professor Rafiq had spent almost his whole life researching the life and works of Kazi Nazrul.
For this reason, Professor Rafiqul Islam was made as the first Nazrul Professor at Dhaka University’s Bangla Department and also the first director of the department’s Nazrul Research Center. He had written numerous study pieces on Kazi Nazrul Islam’s remarkable life and works of art for national and international magazines during the course of his illustrious career.
In 1999, on the occasion of Kazi Nazrul Islam’s 100th birth anniversary, Professor led the cultural mission from Bangladesh to London and Paris and took part in two significant Nazrul conferences in North America that were held in Boston and Florida. That is how he had brought pride for our nation as he represented Bangladesh in the international platforms.
He authored over thirty academic publications, the majority of which focused on the National Poet’s life and works. Some of them are: নজরুল ইসলাম জীবন ও সৃষ্টি, নজরুল জীবনী, নজরুল সাহিত্য, শতবর্ষে নজরুল, নজরুলের বাংলাদেশ আগমনে শতবর্ষ, কাজী নজরুল ইসলামের বিদ্রোহী কবিতার শতবর্ষ স্মারক, Biography of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Kazi Nazrul Islam: A New Anthology., etc. He also edited twelve volumes of Nazrul’s writings, which were released by Bangla Academy between 2007 and 2010. In addition to these, he served as Chief Editor of the Nazrul Rachanbali (Nazrul Omnibus) published by Kabi Nazrul Institute and the Nazrul Rachanabali Nazrul Birth Centenary Edition published by Bangla Academy.
Thanks to Professor Rafiqul Islam’s studies, it was made possible for us and the world to understand Kazi Nazrul Islam and his inventions and therefore having more of a reason to love the culture and history of our Bangladesh, and to represent our country to the foreigners.
Contributions for ULAB:
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh was established in February 2002 and opened its operation fully from October 2004. It is popularly known for its specialization in liberal arts-based curriculum. Professor Rafiqul had contributed a lot for the university and acted as a guardian angel for ULAB since its formation until his last breath.
In 2003, after Professor Rafiq’s retirement from Dhaka University, he was approached by the editor of daily newspaper Ajker Kagoj and ULAB founder late Kazi Shahid Ahmed to help him consolidate his ideas of doing something for the country. Since Professor Rafiq used to write in the newspaper, he had a good connection with Kazi Shahid. Kazi Shahid had taken 2 years just to discuss with different educationists and intellectuals about the curriculum and other laws of his university. Finally after 2 years, the concept of having a university focusing on mainly liberal arts came up. Also, because Kazi Shahid’s son Kazi Anis Ahmed used to study at a liberal arts university (Brown University) in the USA, as well as Professor Rafiq was once a student of Cornell University, another liberal arts university in the USA, everyone came to an agreement to open up such a university in Bangladesh too. Furthermore, according to Professor Shamshad Mortuza, former Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean, School of Arts and Humanities of ULAB, Professor Rafiq then acted as an instrumental figure behind the creation of a private university that has ‘Bangladesh’ in its name.
Professor Rafiq was made the vice-chancellor of the university in 2007 and he served this role till 2011. During this period, he had done immense development for the university.
He adopted Tagore’s “Mora Satyer pore mon..” as a theme song for the university. The powerful lyrics of the song are quite telling of his own life and the university. When Professor Rafiq was directing the Center for Bangla Studies at ULAB, he produced priceless research-focused publications, created courses, and included a fundamental appreciation of Bengali culture especially at the university. In different seminars and programmes of the university, he used to remind students of the different junctures of our past history like about the Language movement, the 1969 Mass Upsurge, Liberation war, etc. . The collections of photographs that were captured by Professor Rafiq are still displayed on every Ekushey February to remind the students about the legacy of our language. While he was alive, he himself ensured that ULAB carefully selects the most important possessions of his, the photographs, for the students to know and learn our history. He also led the year-long Mujib 100 programmes at ULAB, in 2021. By working together with Professor Shamshad Mortuza, Professor Rafiqul Islam had co-edited the bilingual volume book titled “Commemorating Sheikh Mujib: The Greatest Bengali of the Millennium” and this book was the very first publication of ULAB Press. The ULAB press contains different essays written by ULAB’s professors and associates. Till his last days, the university authority used to sit with Professor Rafiq about organizing different events or for seeking his opinions on university-related issues.
Awards and Achievements:
Professor Rafiqul Islam had dedicated his life in the service of his motherland. His numerous contributions in different sectors of the country had given him lots of respect and admiration. Besides formal awards, the love and respect that he got from everyone, are his biggest achievements. He did not care about getting credits for his works. However, his hard works were acknowledged and appreciated, and that is why he had received many national and international awards and honors.
For his love and intense and influential research works related to Kazi Nazrul Islam, Professor Rafiq was given the ‘Nazrul Academy Award, Churulia’ from West Bengal, India in the year 1987. This was his very first award in his life and also the only international award. Similarly, he had achieved the ‘Nazrul Institute Award’ from Dhaka in the same year . Furthermore, because of his research in this field, Kazi Nazrul University (KNU) in Asansol, India had established its Nazrul Centre for Social and Cultural Studies, where Professor Rafiqul served as one of the pioneers and the premier associates. For this reason, the university authority wanted to honor him with an honorary D Litt degree; but due to the pandemic in 2019, they could arrange the program and officially hand over the recognition.
In 1984, he was awarded the ‘Bangla Academy Literary Award’, presented by Bangla Academy, in recognition of his overall contribution in the field of Bengali language and literature. In 2007, he was rewarded again from Bangla Academy, the ‘Bangla Academy Shommanona’.
In 2001, first he was honored with the ‘Ekushey Padak’, the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh and later in 2012, he was rewarded with the ‘Independence Day Award’ (Swadhinata Padak), the highest state award. Both the awards are given yearly by the government of Bangladesh. These two awards are bestowed upon the Bangladeshi civilians who had made substantial contributions during the liberation war, language movement, education, literature, etc. other areas by which Bangladesh has developed historically, politically or culturally.
As Professor Rafiqul Islam had significant key roles in keeping our history authentic, and because of his other genius creativity in developing our country, it was inevitable that he would get these national awards.
In 2018, the government of Bangladesh had given Professor Rafiqul Islam the recognition of ‘National Professor’ for the next five years. In that year, 2 other educationists, Dr Anisuzzaman and Jamilur Reza Choudhury, jointly got the honor. This award is given on the basis of outstanding contributions in the field of education. The national professors receive various facilities from the government during their 5-year period.
In 2021, Professor Rafiqul Islam was awarded with ‘The International Mother Language Award’. This award was first opened up in that year only in order to recognize those civilians who had made special contributions to mother languages worldwide, that is who had practiced and preserved their mother tongues at the national and international levels. As Professor Rafiq’s rare photographs during the language movement of 1952 had added a new dimension to the history of Bangladesh, he deserved that year. This award is given every 2 years, but Professor Rafiq was lucky to be one of the first awardees and to have received the award before his death in that same year. The other awardees were from Uzbekistan and Bolivia.
The eminent Professor’s life was full of awards and recognitions. In 2016, he received the ‘Star Lifetime Award’, which is given by the country’s daily English newspaper Daily Star, as a lifetime achievement award to recognize those who have a long and distinguished history of contributing to the development of our country. Professor Rafiq’s lifelong service for our country was well acknowledged by our people before his death.
However, despite having all these awards, personally he was always a down to earth person. He was humble and tried to spread knowledge among people of all sectors. By going deeper into his personal life, we can know more about all these.
Personal Life:
One of the great qualities of Professor Rafiqul Islam was that he used to have an amazing power to travel through time and space, summoning the “semantic memory” of certain dates, times, and locations, and finally he could reconstruct and relive those moments from the inside out. Having such a quality is crucial in someone who saw and experienced many events of our sociopolitical and cultural life so that he can talk about all those past issues in the present time and also preserve them for the future. Furthermore, thanks to his photographic memory, he could convey a concise, well-organized picture of our past very smoothly. His background in classical anthropology allowed him to express highly subjective observations in an unbiased way. The way he used to describe things, the listeners or audience could put themselves in that position as if they are also living and experiencing the moment.
When working at ULAB, almost everyday media people would come up to him for his opinions regarding different national issues. He loved to talk with everyone, whether to the media or to his colleagues. On several occasions at ULAB, for example, at birthday parties of the faculty members, Professor Rafiqul Islam would narrate different national stories. He was like a storehouse of knowledge. He was always up to date with the current affairs of the world. He was the only professor who had a TV in his office room, and everyday after lunch, he used to listen to the news on TV in loud volume. This proves his passion for gaining knowledge.
Among the people who had observed and worked closely with Professor Rafiqul Islam, they have admitted that he had qualities of humility, generosity, and utmost tolerance. He was also respected for being an idealistic and straightforward person, yet quite kind, humble and creative in his life and works. He was considered to be a workaholic person till his last days.
In marital life, Professor Rafiq was married to Jahanara Islam, one of the Rabindra Sangeet artists. It is beautiful to see a couple where both of them are music lovers and are fans of 2 of the greatest Bengali personalities, Rabindronath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
The couple together had 2 children.
Death:
On October 7, 2021, initially Professor Rafiqul Islam got admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital with a complaint of having abdominal pain. After the primary treatment, the doctors had confirmed that some water had accumulated in Rafiq’s lungs which needed to be extracted. He was undergoing treatment at the chest diseases department under Dr AKM Mosharraf Hossain’s supervision. However, Rafiq’s condition kept on deteriorating. Even though his family wanted to take him to India for better treatment, Rafiq, being a patriot, rejected the idea. He was then shifted to Evercare Hospital, Bashundhara, Dhaka. He understood that his time to depart from the earth was coming, and he wanted to die in his own motherland. This was said in an interview given by his only son, Barshan Islam that his father, Professor Rafiq, insisted on staying in Bangladesh as he loved his country and therefore wanted to receive his treatment here.
At the Evercare hospital, on November 26, Professor Rafiq was put on life support at the CCU. He was admitted to the hospital a week prior to that, and got shifted to the High Dependency Unit of the hospital after his condition worsened. He was undergoing treatments for multiple health complications. Finally, after 4 days, at the age of 87, in the war between life and death, he breathed his last at around 2:30 pm. The news was confirmed by his son, Barshan Islam.
The news of his demise brought a shadow in the academic sector of Bangladesh. The then President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, ministers, distinguished personalities, top leaders of different political and socio-cultural organizations, Bangla Academy as well as educational institutions, including Dhaka University and ULAB, and other mass people expressed deep shock, prayed for his soul and sent condolences messages to Rafiq’s family members. The President said that the death of the eminent academician was an irreparable loss to the country’s education and culture.
His first namaz-e-janaza was held at Uttara Sector-10 mosque and his body was kept at the hospital that night. On the next day, his remains were taken to the Bangla Academy about 1:00 pm and at the Shaheed Minar about 2:00 pm for people from all sectors and ages to pay their last tribute. As Rafiq passed away the day after ULAB’s sixth convocation, all the faculties and staff members of ULAB went to the Shaheed Minar to pay their last respects to their guardian.
Finally, Professor Rafiq was buried at Azimpur graveyard in his father’s grave.
Conclusion:
Professor Rafiq’s contributions towards the development of Bangladesh in terms of history, and culture are undeniable and unforgettable. Thanks to his brave photographs shot in 1952 and the books that he had written about the history of Bangladesh, we the current generations of Bangladesh can now know and learn the proper history of Bangladesh. Furthermore, his intensive research on Kazi Nazrul Islam has helped all the Nazrul lovers to understand the poet better, and if the upcoming youngsters learn and reflect on those research works by Professor Rafiq, the legacy and followers of Nazrul lovers will continue to flourish in the future. Professor Rafiq’s humbleness yet creativity had left a lesson for us that in order to see our society and the country to prosper, we need to have a mindset that values both humility and innovation, this means we need to learn to embrace new ideas while remaining grounded in our roots. It was suggested by Professor Rafiq in an interview that the young generations of Bangladesh are lucky to be living in an independent country, however, they should not forget their mother tongue Bangla even if they study or specialize in other languages like English. He believed that if we can polish our talent, we have a golden opportunity to achieve success in the future.