Jagannath University Lecturer Died for Bone Marrow Cancer

Bashir Shahriar,JNU Correspondent: Shilpi Khanam, a professor of the Bangla Department at Jagannath University (JNU), has passed away due to bone marrow cancer.

She breathed her last while undergoing treatment in the ICU at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital on Sunday. Confirming her death, Dr. Hosne Ara, a senior teacher of the Bangla Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, said, "Shilpi Khanam passed away a short while ago at around 4:30 PM. May the Almighty grant her a place in heaven. Shilpi was a very good person. We, the Bangla Department family, are deeply saddened."

It has been known that Professor Dr. Shilpi Khanam was diagnosed with cancer two and a half years ago. After receiving some treatment in the country, she was taken to India. She received treatment for about one and a half months at Tata Memorial Hospital before returning home. However, her physical condition continued to deteriorate over time. In these two and a half years, the cancer spread throughout her body. The long-term treatment exhausted all her savings, and she had to take loans from many people.

Recently, as her condition worsened, Professor Shilpi Khanam was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) last Friday night. Shilpi Khanam's village home is in Madaripur. She is survived by two children, who have just passed their SSC exams.

Meanwhile, her death has cast a pall of sorrow over the entire university community. Expressing his grief, Tarikul Islam, a fourth-year student of the Bangla Department, said, "Darkness has engulfed our city! The deadly cancer has taken away our mother. We could do nothing! Rest in peace, ma'am."

Departmental Chairman Dr. Milton Biswas said, "Professor Dr. Shilpi Khanam was a talented and responsible teacher. Her death is hard for us to accept."

Expressing his condolences, Dr. Sheikh Mashrik Hasan, General Secretary of the University's Teachers' Association, said, "The untimely death of a colleague is not something we ever desire. We are deeply saddened. The Teachers' Association stood by the family before and will continue to do so. May ma'am be granted paradise."