DUCSU’s only female VP Mahfuza Khanam is no more. The only female Vice President (VP) in the history of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), Mahfuza Khanam, is no more. On Tuesday morning, she was taken to the Health and Hope Hospital in Panthapath in the capital after feeling unwell. Upon reaching there, the doctors declared her dead. She was 80 years old at the time of her death.
Mahfuza Khanam lived with her husband and former Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed on Indira Road in the capital. Shafiq Ahmed’s associate lawyer Sifat Mahmud said that she suddenly fell ill in the morning and was rushed to the hospital, but she could not be saved.
The Mahfuza-Shafiq couple have two sons and a daughter. The elder son and daughter are doctors and the younger son Mahbub Shafiq is a lawyer by profession.
Mahfuza Khanam was a pioneer in student politics. In the 1966-67 academic year, she was elected DUCSU VP as a candidate of Bangladesh Chhatra Union. He graduated from the Physics Department of Dhaka University in the same year and completed his postgraduate studies in 1967. Although he received a scholarship from the University of Sussex, London in 1968, the then Pakistani government did not issue him a passport for political reasons.
In his professional life, Mahfuza Khanam taught at various government colleges and served as the Director General of the Department of Secondary and Higher Education. He was also a member of the Senate of Dhaka University.
His contribution to society and cultural activities is also unique. He served as the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Asiatic Society and the Chairperson of the National Children and Adolescent Organization, Khelaghar Asr. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2021 for his outstanding contribution to the field of education.