Barkat, Abul (1927-1952)  a martyr of language movement. Abul Barkat nicknamed Abai was born in 1927 at village Babla in Bharatpur thana of Murshidabad district. He passed the Matriculation examination from Talibpur High School in 1945, and the Intermediate examination from Bahrampur Krishnanath College in 1947. After the partition of India he came to Dhaka in 1948. He obtained BA (Hons) degree in Political Science from Dhaka University in 1951.

In 1952, when the language movement demanding recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan was at its height, the government clamped Section 144 of criminal procedure code in Dhaka city in order to contain student agitation.

Abul Barkat was in the procession that students mobilised on the premises of the Dhaka Medical College hostel on 21 February. When the police fired on the gathering, Barkat was shot dead. He was laid to rest in Azimpur graveyard. In recognition of his sacrifice, Abul Barkat was awarded Ekushe Padak (posthumously) in 2000 AD. [Rozina Kader]