Ayesha Bedora Choudhury (1935–1971) was a Bangladeshi doctor who was killed in the Bangladesh Liberation war and is considered a martyr in Bangladesh.

Early life

Ayesha was born on 6 April 1935 in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. Her parents were Imaduddin Choudhury and Kaniz Fatema Mahmud. She graduated from

Victoria Institution The Victoria Institution is the oldest secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a memorial school, so-called because it was partly funded by public subscription intended for the erection of a permanent memorial to commemorate the Golden ...

of Kolkata in 1951. She studied MBBS in the

Calcutta National Medical College Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH), colloquially known as Chittaranjan Hospital, is a public medical college and hospital located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established by the amalgamation of the National Medic ...

and graduated in 1956. During her studies she received two gold medals for outstanding academic achievements. She was involved with left wing politics on campus.

Career

Ayesha's first job was in Gauhati Government Hospital in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. She moved to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and joined

Dhaka Medical College and Hospital Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) is a public university, public medical school, medical college and hospital located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1946, the college houses a medical school as well as a Tertiary referral hospital, ...

. Afterwards she worked in the

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope ...

as a Medical officer. On 25 March 1971,

Bangladesh Liberation war The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

started. During the war she provided medical treatment to the Pro Independence

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

and gave them shelter.

Death

On 16 December 1971 Pakistan forces surrendered to an allied force of

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

and the Mukti Bahini through the

Pakistani Instrument of Surrender The Pakistani Instrument of Surrender () was a legal document signed between India (alongside the Provisional Government of Bangladesh) and Pakistan to end the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Per the trilateral agr ...

. That day she went to Bangabandhu Bhaban in 18 Dhanmondi, the personal residence of the President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In the Bangabandhu Bhaban, the wife of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Begum Fazilatunnesa, and their two daughters,

Sheikh Rehana Sheikh Rehana Siddiq (born 13 September 1955) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. She is the younger sister of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the daughter of the first President of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She is also ...

and

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

. When her car came near the gate, the Pakistani soldiers who were stationed there and did not know Pakistan had surrendered fired at her car. She and her chauffeur were killed in the firing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Ayesha Bedora 1935 births 1971 deaths Medical doctors from Kolkata 20th-century Bangladeshi physicians Health professionals killed in wars Women in the Bangladesh Liberation War