''Ekattorer Dingulee'' ( bn, একাত্তরের দিনগুলি, en, The Days of 71) is an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

by martyr-mother

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 Ja ...

based on her experiences of the

liberation war Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

in 1971. Jahanara Imam's son

Shafi Imam Rumi Shafi Imam Rumi (29 March 1951 – 30 September 1971) was a guerilla fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the eldest son of Jahanara Imam. In her memoir about the war, ''Ekatorer Dinguli'', Rumi was portrayed as the premier character ...

, a student, fought the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i army in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

and urban regions. This book describes Jahanara's daily life as well as a description of the horrors associated with the Liberation War, including the deaths of her son and husband during the conflict. Jahanara's book describes her son Rumi as a brilliant student. He had planned to go abroad to earn a degree in engineering, but the war broke out in March 1971 and he became a volunteer for the "Mukti Bahini" (Freedom Fighters). During the war, he was taken from his home in the middle of the night by Pakistani soldiers and never returned. Jahanara's husband

Sharif Imam Shariful Alam Imam Ahmed ( bn, শরীফ ইমাম) (October 30, 1925—December 13, 1971) was a participator in Bangladesh Liberation War. He is most widely remembered as the husband of "''Shaheed Janani''" (Mother of Martyrs) Jahanar ...

was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. Sharif had a heart attack, but the war created a blackout, and critical medical equipment could not be turned on. As a result, he died. Jahanara survived the war and Bangladesh achieved independence in December 1971. For the remainder of her life she lived with her surviving son. She received many awards for her books and she created a committee later on to catch the traitors during the war and hand them to the government.

Citations

References

* {{in lang, bn Ekattorer Dingulee 1986 non-fiction books Bangladeshi books Bangladeshi non-fiction books