Medical education in Bangla on the cards

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday said the government would take a step to introduce medical education in Bangla medium as part of its massive move to establish the language at all levels.
“The High Court will start to deliver the verdict in Bangla soon. The lower courts are already delivering their verdicts in Bangla,” he added.
The minister said this as the chief guest at a reception to six language movement veteran physicians at Dr Milan Hall at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
“The government is also trying to establish Bangla as an official language in the United Nations.”
BSMMU Teachers Association organised the reception to the physicians, including Dr Sharfuddin Ahmed, Dr Ahmed Rafique, Dr Sayeed Haider, Dr Abdul Kader Khan, Dr KM Humayun Hai and Dr Ali Asgar, who contributed a lot during the Language Movement in 1952.
Language movement veteran Dr Ahmed Rafique, also a Bangla Academy award-winning writer, said doctors played a great significant role during the movement and even in constructing the first Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
“So, the young doctors should remember the veteran doctors and respect them for their contribution and uphold the spirit of language movement, which was mainly started by the doctors.”
Dr Rafique called on all to remember some other unknown language veterans who are still staying backstage in the history of the movement.
He named some such veterans, including Ali Azamal of Shahjadpur, Monjur Hossain of Naogaon, Shaheed Alim Choudhury, Abdul Kader Khan, Fazlul Karim of Kishoreganj, Yeahia of Laxmibazar and Faridul Huda of Brahmanbaria still remain neglected in history.
Speaking as the special guest, Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique said: “Our existence was attacked by the Urdu-speaking government in 1952 and our language heroes sacrificed their valuable lives to establish Bangla as their mother tongue.”
“An attack on language means an attack on intellectual, political and cultural rights,” he added.
President of the association Prof Md Moazzem Hossain chaired the programme while Adviser to Prime Minister Syed Modasser Ali, BSMMU VC Prof Pran Gopal Dutta and Bangladesh Medical Association Secretary General Prof Md Sharfuddin Ahmed also spoke.