| Rafiqul Islam | |
| Birth Date: | 16 July 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Comilla, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan |
| Alma Mater: | University of Dhaka |
| Death Place: | Vancouver, Canada |
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.[8]