From Shilalipi to the killing fields

Selina Parveen lived a life shaped by care, conscience, and creative resolve. Born on March 31, 1931, she trained as a nurse and joined Mitford Hospital in 1956, dedicating her early professional life to healing. Her commitment to service soon extended beyond medicine. In 1959, she served as matron of Rokeya Hall, and the following year joined the Azimpur Baby Home as a teacher, working closely with children and women at society's margins.

Cover of Shilalipi, edited and published by Selina Parveen. Courtesy: Liberation War Museum

Alongside her professional responsibilities, Selina Parveen cultivated a powerful literary voice. Throughout the 1960s, her poems and essays appeared in various journals, and she wrote regularly for Weekly Begum and Weekly Lalana. Most significantly, she edited and published the literary magazine Shilalipi, creating a space for reflection, creativity, and quiet resistance at a time when such expression was increasingly fraught.

A page from Shilalipi. Courtesy: Liberation War Museum

On December 13, 1971, Selina Parveen was abducted from her residence by Al-Badr, the killing squad of the Pakistan Army. The following day, December 14, she was murdered alongside other intellectuals at the Rayerbazar killing fields in Dhaka. When her body was found, her hands and feet were bound, her eyes covered with cloth, and her body bore the marks of brutal bayonet attacks. Mutilated and left among other corpses and scattered debris, her remains testified to the calculated violence unleashed against those who dared to think, write, and care.