Rafiqul Islam in Canadian hospital with leukaemia
Architect of International Mother Language Day Rafiqul Islam is being treated for leukaemia in a Canadian hospital.
The 60-year-old man was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital on March 23 a day after he was diagnosed with leukaemia, said Matiul Alam, a close associate of Rafiqul Islam.
According to the Wikipedia, leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterised by an abnormal increase of white blood cells.
Rafiqul Islam is receiving chemotherapy on a daily basis.
While the treatment has caused sore, nausea, poor appetite and short-term hair loss, his doctors have said that the treatment is progressing satisfactorily, said Matiul Alam, an educationist and former Brac official.
Rafiqul Islam, hailing from Rajbari in Comilla, is the president of the Vancouver -based NGO “Mother Language Lovers of the World.”
The organisation was the first to propose to the UN to declare February 21 as the International Mother Language Day.
It later inspired the Bangladesh government to send a formal proposal for achieving UN recognition of the glorious language movement.
In response to the formal proposal, the Unesco finally declared Feb 21 as International Mother Language Day in 1999.
Rafiqul's eldest son Jyoti Islam, who is working as a professional nurse in Canada, has requested everyone to pray for his father.
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