Jahanara Imam (3 May 1929 – 26 June 1994) was a Bangladeshi writer and political activist. She is known for her efforts to bring war criminals to trial for war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War. She has been called "Shaheed Janani" (Mother of Martyrs).
Biography
thumb|Imam in 1957
Imam was born on 3 May 1929 in Murshidabad, West Bengal, British India, the eldest daughter in a family of three brothers and four sisters. Her father, Syed Abdul Ali, was a civil servant in the Bengal Civil Service. She lived in many different parts of Bengal – wherever her father was posted. Her mother was Hamida Ali. At that time there was a lot of social pressure against Muslim women pursuing further studies, but Hamida was determined that Jahanara's education would not be constrained.
After finishing her studies in 1945 in Carmichael College in Rangpur, Imam went to Lady Brabourne College of Calcutta University and in 1947 obtained her bachelor's degree. After the partition of India, she joined her family in Mymensingh in what became East Pakistan and started teaching at Vidyamoyee Govt. Girls High School.
In 1948, she married Sharif Imam, a civil engineer, whom she met in Rangpur while studying at Carmichael College.
Literary career
thumb|Imam in 1960
After Bangladesh achieved independence, Imam started her literary career. During this time, she also travelled extensively to Europe, USA and Canada. In 1986, she published her wartime diary, Ekattorer Dingulee (The days of Seventy One).
Ghulam Azam, the exiled chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, was allowed to come back to Bangladesh in July 1978. In December 1991 Ghulam Azam, was elected the Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami. Subsequently, Jahanara Imam organised the Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee (Committee for Eradicating the Killers and Collaborators of '71), and became its public face. The committee called for the trial of people who committed crimes against humanity in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War in collaboration with Pakistani forces. The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee set up mock trials in Dhaka on 26 March 1992 known as Gono Adalat (People's Court) and 'sentenced' persons they accused of being war criminals. Imam and others were reportedly charged with treason during the rule of the coalition government later on. This charge was however dropped in 1996 after her death by the Chief Adviser Muhammad Habibur Rahman of the caretaker government.
Death and legacy
In 1981, Imam was diagnosed with mouth cancer, and operations caused her to have difficulty speaking, she continued to write and continued her involvement with the freedom fighters. She died on 26 June 1994 in Michigan, U.S. Bangladesh Nationalist Party Member of Parliament Syeda Ashifa Ashrafi has criticised Imam. Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was found guilty over the murder of her son in Bangladesh Liberation war by International Crimes Tribunal. Nuran Nabi wrote a book on her titled as, "the last days of Jahanara Imam in America".
Awards
- Award from Bangladesh Writer's Association (1988)
- Bangla Academy Literary Award (1991)
- Independence Day Award (1997)
- Rokeya Padak (1998)
Literary works
- Anya Jiban (1985) (Other life)
- Ekattorer Dingulee (1986) (The days of 1971)