A Bangladeshi educationist, literature and social worker, Neelima Ibrahim was born on 11 January 1921 in Bagerhat. She passed her BA in Arts and Teaching from the Scottish Church College and MA in Bengali literature from the University of Calcutta in 1943. She did her PhD from the University of Dhaka in 1959 and then began her teaching career in its Bengali department. She was the Director General of Bangla Academy from August 1974 to June 1975. She published novels, short stories, plays as well as a travelogue in her lifetime. For War 1971 and I is the English translation of her memorable work Aami Birangana Balchi which is a portrayal of the traumatic experiences of seven Bangladeshi women who were brutally raped and tortured during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 by Pakistani Army soldiers and narrates their slow, painful and complicated return to everyday life in the post-war period. The book is not only a revelation of the horrors of the past but also a tragic reminder of the sufferings and vulnerability of those freedom lovers who survived the genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani army in 1971. Neelima Ibrahim was actively involved in campaigning for the improvement of the lot of the women and deeply concerned about giving them their rightful place in society. She died on 18 June 2002.
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