Meherun Nesa (20 August 1942 – 27 March 1971) was a poet and martyred Bengali intellectual of the

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 ...

Early life

Nesa was born on 20 August 1942 in Khidirpur, Kolkata, West Bengal,

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 ...

. She did not attend school but was self-taught. She moved with her family to East Bengal, Pakistan in 1950 after the partition of India.

Career

Nesa worked as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to incre ...

in Bangla Academy, after which she worked at the Philips Radio Company starting in 1961. She worked as a copywriter in the USIS Library Dhaka operated by

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

. Nesa published her first poem, Chashi (চাষি), in 1953 in the '' Daily Sangbad''. Her poems were influenced by romanticism and realism, and expressed her political views. She demanded

Bangla Bangla () may refer to: *Bengali language, an eastern Indo-Aryan language *The endonym of Bengal, a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia *''Bangla-'', a prefix indicating Bangladesh *West Bengal, a state in eastern India, also kn ...

to be made a state language through her poetry. Her poems were published by a number of publications including Pakistani Khabar, Dainik Pakistan, Sangram and Philips Magazine, etc. She was involved in the Mass uprising of 1969, and member of the Action Committee in Mirpur. On 23 March 1971 she hoisted the flag of Independent Bangladesh in her house.

Death

On 27 March 1971 her house in Mirpur,

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 ...

was attacked by local collaborators of Pakistan army including

Biharis Bihari () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ( Bihari-speaking) ethnolinguistic groups: Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magahis. They are also further divid ...

. She along with her family were killed by them. Her two brothers and mother were killed along with her. The Bangladesh post office released stamps with her image on 14 December 1995.

Trial for killing Meherun Nesa

Abdul Quader Mollah, the leader of

Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The origin of the party can be traced back to the original faction founded by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi in 1941. The predecessor of Jamaat which is known as Jam ...

, was charged with her death and the death of her family. Mollah was hanged on 12 December 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesa, Meherun 1942 births 1971 deaths Bengali women poets 20th-century Bengali poets Poets from West Bengal