Begum Rokeya is the founding pillar of Bangali feminism. Her writings, actions, analyze, and resolve gender-biased social, cultural, and political practices. She is the one who offered Bangali Muslim women books instead of kitchen appliances. Today is Begum Rokeya Day, marking the 141st birth anniversary and the 89th death anniversary of Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain.
Early life
Begum Rokeya was born in the Pairabondh village of Rangpur. Her father was a local landlord and imposed a strict veiling upon the women of his family. No formal education was allowed for women in his house, and only Arabic was taught informally, so they could recite the Quran and perform Islamic religious rites.
However, defying the rules laid out by her father, Rokeya, along with her sister Karimunesa insisted upon learning Bangla the local language much to their father’s disdain. However, their brother Ibrahim Saber decided to teach them.
Rokeya married the Deputy Magistrate of Baghalpur, Sakhwat Hussain, who was then a divorced 39-year old. Having studied in England, Hussain was a liberal person, who encouraged his wife to learn both Bengali and English. During the lifetime of her husband, she started her literary career and launched books like Motichur and Sultana’s Dream.
Being an activist & writer
At the peak of her career, Rokeya had learned Bangla, Urdu, English, Persian, and Arabic. One of her first novellas, Sultana’s Dream was in English. There, she reversed the gender roles and portrayed women as the dominant gender. Although she started writing about reforming the society as early as 1903, a two-volume compilation of which was published in 1908 and 1921 respectively. She published a novel, Padmaraga in 1924, and another, Oborodhbashini in 1928.
Rokeya started off her school, Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School in the memory of her late husband. In 1911, when the foundation was laid in Kolkata, there were only 8 students. However, the strength increased to 84 by 1915, and it became a high school in 1930. Among the many subjects taught at the school, the most prominent ones were nursing, sewing, home economics, Bangla, and English. She believed it was very important for women to be strong physically, so she focused more on physical activity in her school. Through practical training, Rokeya aimed at enabling women to be economically independent, whenever needed.
Revealing the absurdities of the society towards women
Rokeya’s writings mainly revolve around the oppression of women. Prominent among her works are Sultana’s Dream, Padmarag, and Abarodhbasini. She relies on role reversal to show society what women are capable of if given the opportunity. She encouraged women to change their lot by becoming educated and financially independent. She always believed that women were held back by the ignorance of their own rights and responsibilities. She tried to persuade Muslim families to allow their daughters to attend school. She ran a slum literary program in Kolkata, forming work teams to visit women in the slums to teach them reading, writing, personal hygiene, and child care. Rokeya also recognized the importance of women’s economic independence. She realized the importance of organized action for change and raising public awareness.
Leadership
Begum Rokeya was a self-educated and self-reliant woman with a progressive bent of mind. Her leadership followed the transformational feminist style which is reflected in her works. Through her writings and activities, she sent a message to the women to prepare themselves to claim their rights and privileges and to help construct a better. She was the first woman in her society to talk about gender equality.
Famous publications
Begum Rokeya’s work has a distinctive style, in which she inculcates logic, creativity, and humor. She started her career writing for a magazine called Nabanoor, and throughout her career, she asked women to stand up for their rights and protest the injustice they face. Some of her famous writings are as follows:
- Motichur (Two volumes, first published in 1904, second in ’22)
- Sultana’s Dream
- Pipasha (Thirst)
- Padmarag (Essence of the Lotus, published in 1924)
- God Gives, Man Robs (Published in 1927)
- Boligarto (story)
