Former JUST Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Md Rafiq Islam Sarkar Passes Away
Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST) has expressed deep sorrow at the death of its former Vice-Chancellor and current honorary member of the Regent Board, Professor Dr Md Rafiq Islam Sarkar.
JUST Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Md Abdul Majid and Treasurer Professor Dr Hossain Al Mamun, along with members of the Regent Board and the entire university community, conveyed their profound condolences in separate messages issued on Wednesday, December 24.
According to university sources, Professor Dr Rafiq Islam fell ill at around 11:30 am while travelling from his residence in Dhaka to Kazipara. He was rushed to Mirpur Al Helal Specialized Hospital, where the attending physicians declared him dead due to a stroke (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un).
Professor Dr Rafiq Islam Sarkar served as the Project Director of the JUST establishment project and later assumed responsibility as the university’s founding Vice-Chancellor. He was also a professor in the Department of Agricultural Power and Machinery at Bangladesh Agricultural University, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology.
At the time of his death, he was serving as Chairman of the Agriculturist Group and as an honorary member of the JUST Regent Board. Primarily an agricultural scientist and engineer, he made outstanding contributions over more than five decades to the mechanisation and modernisation of Bangladesh’s agricultural sector.
In a condolence message, JUST Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Md Abdul Majid described Professor Dr Rafiq Islam Sarkar as an honest, humane, religious-minded and responsible individual. He said that from the very inception of JUST, Professor Rafiq Islam Sarkar worked tirelessly for the university’s development and was a capable administrator as well as a distinguished agricultural scientist.
“His strong leadership and far-sighted planning during the formative years laid the foundation that enabled the university to reach its present position,” the Vice-Chancellor said. “As the founding Vice-Chancellor, he accepted the challenge of building a university from scratch—a contribution JUST will always remember with gratitude.”
He added that with his passing, the country has lost an eminent educationist and agricultural engineer, while the university has lost a guardian figure. He extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members, friends, colleagues, and well-wishers, and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
DBTech/MNH/EK/OR
