Neelima Ibrahim (11 October 1921 – 18 June 2002) was a Bangladeshi educationist, littérateur and social worker. She is well known for her scholarship on

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

but even more so for her depiction of raped and tortured women in the 1971

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

in her book ''Ami Birangana Bolchi''. She was awarded

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...

in 1969,

Begum Rokeya Padak Begum Rokeya Padak, named after Begum Rokeya, is a Bangladeshi national honour conferred on individual women for their exceptional achievement. The award is given by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh. The ...

in 1996 and

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

in 2000 by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

for her contributions to Bangla literature.

Early life and education

Neelima was born on 11 October 1921 in Bagerhat, Khulna to Zamindar Prafulla Roy Chowdhury and Kusum Kumari Devi. Ibrahim passed her school leaving examination and entrance level examinations from the Khulna Coronation Girls' School in 1937 and from the Victoria Institution in Calcutta in 1939. Later she earned bachelor's degrees in arts and teaching from the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

, which was followed by an MA in Bengali literature from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

in 1943. She would also earn a doctorate in Bengali literature from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

in 1959.

Career

Neelima was a career academic. She taught in respectively the Khulna Coronation Girls' School, Loreto House, the Victoria Institution, and finally at the

, where she was appointed as a lecturer in 1956, and as a professor of Bengali in 1972. She also served as the chairperson of the

Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...

, and as the Vice Chairperson of the World Women's Federation's South Asian Zone. In 1972, after the

, Ibrahim worked at centers set up to rehabilitate women who had been raped during the conflict. Such women were accorded the title ''

Birangona ''Birangana'' ( bn, বীরাঙ্গনা, lit=war heroine) is the title awarded by the Government of Bangladesh to women raped during the Bangladesh Liberation War by the Pakistan army and their local collaborators. History On 16 Decembe ...

'' (war heroine) by the Government of Bangladesh, but this did not prevent them from being stigmatized. Appalled by newspaper accounts that some victims of sexual violence preferred to be sent to prisoner of war camps in India with their Pakistani rapists, rather than endure familial rejection and social scorn in Bangladesh, Ibrahim was moved to interview them. She published a collection of seven of these first-person narratives in her two-volume ''Ami Birangona Bolchi'' (''The Voices of War Heroines'') in 1994 and 1995. Social anthropologist Nayanika Mookherjee writes that, "The text suggests that ... 'traditional, backward Islamic norms' cause the rejection of raped women and contribute to their trauma." Bangladeshi academic

Firdous Azim Firdous Azim is a professor of English at BRAC University, a literary critic, and a women's rights activist. She is the chairperson of the Department of English and Humanities at BRAC University. She is a member of Naripokkho. Early life Azim c ...

describes the book as "path-breaking" and "an integral part of a feminist historicizing of the war of liberation in Bangladesh."

Works

Non-fiction

*''Sharat-Pratibha'' (The Creative Faculty of Sharatchanda), 1960, *''Banglar Kavi Madhusudan'' (Madhushudan, the Poet of Bengal), 1961, *''Unabingsha Shatabdir Bangali Samaj o Bangla Natak'' (Bengali Society and Bengali Drama in the 19th century), 1964, *''Bangla Natak: Utsa o Dhara'' (Bengali Drama: Origin and Development), 1972, *''Begum Rokeya'', 1974, *''Bangalimanas o Bangla Sahitya'' (Bengali Mentality and Bengali Literature), 1987, *''Sahitya-Sangskrtir Nana Prasanga'' (Various Aspects of Literature and Culture), 1991

Fiction

*''Bish Shataker Meye'' (Girl of the Twentieth Century), 1958, *''Ek Path Dui Bank'' (The Forked Road), 1958, *''Keyabana Sancharini'' (Traveller of Keya Forest), 1958, *''Banhi Balay'' (The Bangle of Fire), 1985

Plays

*''Due Due Char'' (Two and Two Make Four), 1964, *''Je Aranye Alo Nei'' (The Dark Forest), 1974, *''Rodjwala Bikel'' (The Sunburnt Afternoon), 1974, *''Suryaster Par'' (After Sunset), 1974

Short stories

*''Ramna Parke'' (At Ramna Park), 1964

Translations

*''Eleanor Roosevelt'', 1955, *''Kathashilpi James Fenimor Cooper'' (Storyteller James Fenimore Cooper), 1968, *''Bostoner Pathe Pathe'' (On the Streets of Boston), 1969

Travelogue

*''Shahi Elakar Pathe Pathe'' (Along the Royal Streets), 1963

Autobiography

*''Bindu-Bisarga'' (Dot and Ghost), 1991

Narratives/Ethnography

*''Ami Birangana Bolchhi'' (I, the Heroine, Speaks), 1996

Awards

(1969) * Michael Madhusudan Award (1987) * Lekhika Sangha Award (1989) *

Anannya Literature Award Anannya Literature Award ( bn, অনন্যা সাহিত্য পুরস্কার) is the prize for women in Bangladesh recognition of contribution to the field of literature by Anannya (magazine), Anannya Magazine in every Bengal ...

(1996) *

(1996) * Bangabandhu Award (1997) *

(2000) * The Independence Award (Swadhinata Puroshkar) (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Nilima 1921 births 2002 deaths People from Khulna Bangladeshi women writers Bangladeshi writers Bengali-language writers Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni University of Dhaka alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Recipients of Begum Rokeya Padak Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Recipients of the Independence Day Award Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members