In the 1940s when a Bengali girl on a bicycle was a rare sight, residents of Kurigram, a small town under Rangpur district in the north of Bengal (Bangladesh at present), were used to seeing a Muslim girl going around on her own bicycle. Known as “the bicycle girl” in the quiet little town, Jahanara Imam eventually grew up into a fine woman who would become the epitome of protest at a later point of her life.

Widely known as “Shaheed Janani” or “Mother of a Martyr”, Jahanara Imam was a Bangladeshi writer and activist. She coordinated the Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee [Committee for the Eradication of Traitors and Collaborators], an entity that was formed in 1992 to demand and execute t…

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Citation: Huq, Sabiha. "Jahanara Imam". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 December 2020 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14553, accessed 29 March 2024.]

14553 Jahanara Imam 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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