The seventeenth anniversary of the death of Jahanara Imam, writer and political activist known for her efforts to bring people who committed war crimes during the war of independence to trial, was observed on Sunday with the demand for immediate trial of war criminals.
Jahanara Imam is also popularly known as 'shaheed janani' (mother of martyrs).
The demands put forth on the occasions also include not keeping Islam as the state religion in the constitution, banning religion-based political parties and getting back to the constitution as it was on adoption in 1972 for a modern, secular country.
Various political parties and rights, social and cultural organisations observed the day.
The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee, or the committee to exterminate the killers and collaborators, held a discussion.
The organisation, which set up mock trials in Dhaka in March 1992 and sentenced war criminals, also distributed Jahanara Imam Memorial Award in a programme at the Women's Voluntary Association at Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
The organisation's president Kabir Chowdhury handed over crests and medals to historian and researcher Salahuddin Ahmed and social scientist Anupam Sen.
The Adivasi Forum and Sampradayikota O Jangibadbirodhi Mancha also received the award in the organisation category.
Political leaders, rights activists, media personalities and writers attending the programme said that retaining Islam as the state religion and not banning religion-based political parties were contrary to the spirit of the war of independence of 1971.
They also said the then BNP-led government and fascist HM Ershad-led government had come to power illegally and changed the constitution but the Awami League-led government that has come to power legally is approving the illegal changes made by then illegal governments and this would not be acceptable as such moves contradict with the constitution of 1972.
The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee in the morning placed flowers at the grave of Jahanara Imam.
Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal also observed the day. The party leaders in the morning placed flowers at Jahanara's grave in the Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard at Mirpur in Dhaka.
The leaders at a rally organised at Shahbagh on the occasion demanded immediate trial of war crimes.
The Jatiya Ganatantrik League also observed the day by holding a discussion where it put out a call for brining war criminals to trial.
Jahanara Imam was born on May 3, 1929 in Murshidabad in West Bengal. After finishing her studies in Carmichael College in Rangpur in 1945, she went to Lady Brabourne College in 1947 for her bachelor's degree. After the partition of India, she started teaching at Vidyamayee Government Girls' High School.
In 9060, she gave up her job in teaching and obtained her master's degree in the Bangla language and literature in 1962 and a bachelor's degree in education in 1963 from Dhaka University. She then went back to teaching.
Her literary works include Anya Jiban (1985), Ekattorer Dinguli (1986), Jiban Mrityu (1988) and Cancer-er Sange Basabas (1991).
Source : New Age
