Rahman, Shafiur

Rahman, Shafiur (1918-1952) martyr of the language movement. Shafiur Rahman was born at Konnagar in the district of 24 Parganas in West Bengal. He passed ICom examination from Calcutta Government Commercial College and started working as a clerk at 24 Parganas civil supply office. After the partition of India in 1947 he moved to Dhaka, and joined the accounts section of Dhaka High Court as a clerk.

On the morning of 22 February 1952, students and common people staged a demonstration on Nawabpur Road in Dhaka demanding recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan. The police fired on the demonstration procession, and Shafiur Rahman who was going to office on a bicycle, was shot in the back. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he died at 7 pm. His dead body was buried at Azimpur graveyard at 3 a.m under police guard. Shafiur Rahman was awarded Ekushey Padak posthumously in February 2000. [Rafiqul Akbar] Shafiur Rahman