Rafiqul Islam (16 July 1950 – 20 November 2013)[1] was a Bangladeshi-born Canadian[2] language activist.
[3][4] He played a major role in achieving recognition of February 21 as the International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999.
[1] He was awarded Independence Day Award posthumously by the Government of Bangladesh in 2016.
[5][6][7] He was a member of Vancouver-based organization The Mother Language Lovers Of The World which was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2001 for the same cause.
[1] Rafiqul Islam had lived in Canada for 18 years until he died of leukaemia on 20 November 2013 in Vancouver General Hospital in Canada.