Shariful Alam Imam Ahmed () (October 30, 1925—December 13, 1971) was a participator in

Bangladesh War of Independence 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 ...

. He is most widely remembered as the husband of "''Shaheed Janani''" (Mother of Martyrs),

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 Jan ...

, and as the father of guerrilla fighter

Shafi Imam Rumi Shafi Imam Rumi (29 March 1951 – 30 September 1971) was a guerrilla fighter in the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the eldest son of Sharif and Jahanara Imam, the latter of whom wrote about Rumi's experiences and daily life in her memoir ab ...

. He is a character in

's famous memoir Ekattorer Dingulee (, ).

Biography

Sharif Imam 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 i ...

. In 1948, he married

, whom he met in

Rangpur Rangpur may refer to: Places In Bangladesh *Rangpur Division, one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. *Rangpur District, district of Bangladesh in Rangpur Division. *Rangpur, Bangladesh, metropolis and a major city in northern ...

while studying at

Carmichael College Carmichael College, Rangpur () is a public higher education institution in Bangladesh. Established in 1916 by the then Magistrate Collector of Rangpur, J.N. Gupta and was named after Lord Baron Carmichael. Currently, the college offers education ...

. They settled in

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 ...

Role in War of Independence

In 1971, following the

Pakistan army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

crackdown on pro-independence militants and supporters on 25th March, the

Bangladesh 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 ...

broke out. Many joined the independence war, including Imam's elder son

, who joined the

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 ...

during the war, Imam's wife

wrote a diary on her feelings about the struggle. This later became one of the most important publications about the War of Independence. Sharif and his friend Sajedur Rahman collected and sent money to the pro-independence fighters. At the end of June 1971,

Shahadat Chowdhury Shahadat Chowdhury (28 July 1943 – 29 November 2005) was a Bangladeshi journalist and editor of several news magazines. He served as the editor of ''Weekly Bichitra'' from 1972 until its publication was ceased in 1997. He then served as the ed ...

and Habibul Alam came to Sharif's house with a letter from Sector-2 commander Major

Khaled Mosharraf Khaled Mosharraf (; 9 November 1937 – 7 November 1975) was a two star officer in Bangladesh Army, who is known for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the subsequent coups in post-independence Bangladesh. After deposing Khondakar ...

. Mosharraf asked Sharif information about bridges and culverts of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in order to hamper

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# ...

i army's movement. Patriot Sharif used to provide detail information of the exact points where to set explosives so that the bridge will be damaged but also there will be less damage so that it can be repaired easily after the country is liberated. His son, Rumi took part in many actions against Pakistan army, he was to be picked up by the Pakistani army, never to be seen again. Imam and his younger son Jami, and Jami's cousin were also picked up for interrogation and were tortured. Imam returned home as a broken man only to die three days before Bangladesh became free on 16 December 1971. As

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

was set to announce mass mercy on September 5, 1971, many family relatives instated to ask mercy petition for Rumi to the government. Rumi's parents took the suggestion and thought over it but later decided to not do so because they considered it to be a dishonor to Rumi's views and ideology. Sharif underwent a massive heart-attack on 13 December 1971, was rushed to IPGMR (popularly known as PG hospital, later renamed to BSMMU), where he died at late night because the

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). Defibrillation delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''count ...

couldn't be used due to a

blackout Blackout(s), black out, or The Blackout may refer to: Loss of lighting or communication * Power outage, a loss of electric power * Blackout (broadcasting), a regulatory or contractual ban on the broadcasting of an event * Blackout (fabric), a t ...

being carried out as an official

began.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Imam, Sharif 1925 births 1971 deaths Mukti Bahini personnel Carmichael College alumni