Jahanara Imam

Jahanara Imam (3 May 1929 – 26 June 1994) was a Bangladeshi writer and political activist. She is known for her efforts to bring those accused of committing war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War to trial. She has been called "Shaheed Janani" (Mother of Martyrs). 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. She was an activist in Lady Brabourne College. 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.