Roquia Sakhawat Hussain

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain") is the commonly used spelling of Rokeya's full married name, Rokeya herself is never seen to use her full married name in this English spelling. In much of her correspondence in English, she used just her initials: ‘R. S. Hossein' (also used on the cover of the 1st edition of ''Sultana's Dream''). In some other correspondences in English, she used "Rokeya Khatun," or "Khatoon". In most of her correspondence in Bengali, she used just her first name " bn, রোকেয়া, label=none" (would be "Rokeya" if romanized). ( bn, রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন; 9 December 1880 – 9 December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya, was a prominent Bangladeshi feminist thinker, writer, educator, professor, teacher, writer and women empowerment and political activist for Muslim girls from Bangladesh

She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's liberation in South Asia. Rokeya is considered as the pioneer feminist of Bangladesh.

She advocated for men and women to be treated equally as rational beings, noting that the lack of education for women was responsible for their inferior economic position. Her major works include ''Matichur'' (A String of Sweet Pearls, 1904 and 1922), a collection of essays in two volumes expressing her feminist thoughts; ''Sultana's Dream'' (1908), a feminist science fiction novella set in Ladyland ruled by women; ''Padmarag'' ("Essence of the Lotus", 1924) depicting the difficulties faced by Bengali wives; and ''Abarodhbasini'' (The Confined Women, 1931), a spirited attack on the extreme forms of purdah that endangered women's lives and self-image.

Rokeya held education to be the central precondition of women's liberation, establishing the first school aimed primarily at Muslim girls in Kolkata. She is said to have gone from house to house persuading the parents to send their girls to her school in Nisha. Until her death, she ran the school despite facing hostile criticism and social obstacles.

In 1916, she founded the Muslim Women's Association, an organization that fought for women's education and employment. In 1926, Rokeya presided over the Bengal Women's Education Conference convened in Kolkata, the first significant attempt to bring women together in support of women's education rights. She was engaged in debates and conferences regarding the advancement of women until her death on 9 December 1932, shortly after presiding over a session during the Indian Women's Conference.

Bangladesh observes '' Rokeya Day'' on 9 December every year to commemorate her works and legacy. On that day, Bangladesh government also confers Begum Rokeya Padak on individual women for their exceptional achievement. In 2004, Rokeya was ranked number 6 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time.

Background and family

Rokeya Khatun was born in 1880, to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Pairaband, Rangpur, Bengal Presidency. Her ancestors served in the military and judiciary during the Mughal regime. Her father, Zahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Haidar Saber, was a ''zamindar'' and a multi-lingual intellectual. He married four times; his marriage to Rahatunnessa Sabera Chaudhurani resulted in the birth of Rokeya, who had two sisters and three brothers, one of whom died in childhood. Rokeya's eldest brother ''Ibrahim Saber'', and her immediate elder sister Karimunnesa Khanam Chaudhurani, both had a major influence on her life. Karimunnesa wanted to study Bengali, the language of the majority in Bengali people, against her family's wish who preferred to use Arabic and Persian as the media of education and communication. ''Ibrahim'' taught ''English'' and ''Bengali'' to Rokeya and Karimunnesa. Karimunnesa married at the age of fourteen and later became a poet. Both of her sons, Abdul Karim Ghaznavi and Abdul Halim Ghaznavi, became politicians and occupied ministerial portfolios under British authorities.

Marriage

Rokeya married at the age of 18, in 1898 to 38-year-old Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain. He was an Urdu

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases