Rashid Jahan (25 August 1905 – 29 July 1952) was an Indian writer and medical doctor known for her

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and plays and contributed to ''

Angarey Angarey or Angaaray (translated alternatively as "Embers" or "Burning Coals") is a collection of nine short stories and a one act play in Urdu by Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Mahmud-uz-Zafar and Ahmed Ali first published in 1932 and general ...

'' (1932), a collection of unconventional short stories written in collaboration with

Sajjad Zaheer Syed Sajjad Zaheer ( ur, ) (5 November 1899 – 13 September 1973) was an Indian Urdu writer, Marxist ideologue and radical revolutionary who worked in both India and Pakistan. In the pre-independence era, he was a member of the Communist ...

, Ahmed Ali, and Mahmuduz Zafar. During her lifetime, Jahan was an active member of the

Progressive Writers' Movement The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

and the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

. Jahan has been called one of the first ever

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

and was a leading

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. These two schools of thought animated Jahan's life and literary output.

Biography

Early life

Rashid Jahan was born on 25 August 1905 in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

. She was the eldest of seven children born to

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later rena ...

and his wife Begum Wahid Jahan. Her father was a leading pioneer of women's English-based education in India and established the

Women's College, Aligarh Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a public central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. Muhammadan Anglo-Orienta ...

at the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. Sheikh Abdullah also ran the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

As Jahan's future sister-in-law,

Hamida Saiduzzafar Hamida Saiduzzafar (16 July 1921 – 1988) was an Indian ophthalmologist. Early life Saiduzzafar was born in Nainital, the daughter of Sahibzada Saiduzzafar Khan and Shaukat Ara Begum. Her father was a physician and medical school professor ...

, related in a 1973 interview, Rashid once said of her upbringing: ‘‘We have slept on the mattress of women's education and covered ourselves with the quilt of women's education from our earliest consciousness."

Education

Jahan undertook her early education in

at the Muslim Girls' School and Hostel (which would later become the

), where she studied until she was 16 years old. In 1921, she left

to join the

Isabella Thoburn College The Isabella Thoburn College, formerly the Lucknow Women's College and often called informally IT College, is a college for women in Lucknow, India, named after its founder, Isabella Thoburn, the first woman American missionary of the Methodist ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, earning a degree in Inter-Science. Jahan wrote her first short stories for the ''Chand Bagh Chronicle'', a publication of the

. Three years later, in 1924, Jahan moved to

Lady Hardinge Medical College , mottoeng = Through Adversity to Stars , established = 1916 , founder = Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst , director = , faculty = , students = , undergrad = 240 , postgrad ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

to study obstetrics and

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

. As a medical student, Jahan organized literacy classes and free medical clinics for poor women. After graduating with an

M.B.B.S. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1929, Jahan joined the United Provinces Provincial Medical Service, and was posted to small towns across north India, from

Bahraich Bahraich is a city and a municipal board in Bahraich district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Located on the Saryu River, a tributary of the Ghaghara river, Bahraich is north-east of Lucknow, the state capital. The districts of Barab ...

Bulandshahar Bulandshahr, formerly Baran, is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bulandshahr district and part of Delhi NCR region. According to the Government ...

and

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

Activism

In 1931, Jahan was posted to the Lady Dufferin Hospital (now the Dufferin Hospital) in

, the capital city of the United Provinces. In

, Jahan met

, Ahmed Ali, and Mahmuduz Zafar. The following year, the quartet published ''Angaaray'', a collection of short stories railing against the hypocrisies of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic orthodoxy and the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. In 1933, Jahan joined the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

and became a leading party figure in the United Provinces, adopting the moniker "Comrade Rashid Jahan." In October 1934, Jahan married ''Angaaray'' collaborator and noted

Mahmuduz Zafar. Jahan resigned from the United Provinces medical service and joined Zafar in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

soon after. In 1935 and 1936, Jahan was intimately involved in the founding of the

Progressive Writers' Association The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

, organizing the First Progressive Writers' Conference in

during the April of 1936. In 1937, Jahan moved once again, this time to

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

, where she continued to be an active member of the

while working as a gynecologist and serving as the editor of the Communist newspaper-cum-literary journal ''Chingari''. In early 1937, Jahan published a collection of plays and short stories entitled ''Aurat''. In the summer of the same year, Jahan travelled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to seek medical aid for a

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

problem. Jahan's political, literary, and medical careers often intersected as she pursued wide-ranging

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

agendas in the 1930s. Jahan "offered women’s healthcare in lower caste and class communities, educated women in reproductive health and marriage rape in sweepers colonies, held adult education classes, ran her own gynecological medical practice, participated in trade union rallies and protest marches, ..and authored and orchestrated political street theater." Jahan's younger sister,

Begum Khurshid Mirza Begum Khurshid Mirza (Urdu: بیگم خورشید مرزا ), also known by her screen name as Renuka Devi (1918 – 1989), was a Pakistani television actress and a film actress in the pre-partition era. Early life, Family and Educa ...

, writes that Jahan "worked day and night, and most of her earnings went to the ommunistparty fund," from which she and her husband received a small sustenance allowance. Mirza further relates that Jahan became a sort of mother-figure for all the poor comrades and their families. According to

Salman Haidar Salman Haidar is a former Indian diplomat who served as the Foreign Secretary of India. His tenure was from 1 March 1995 to 30 June 1997. He also served as high commissioner of India to the United Kingdom from January to July, 1998. Personal ...

, Jahan's nephew and former

Foreign Secretary of India The foreign secretary of India ( IAST: ''Videśa Saciva'') is the top diplomat of India and administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs. This post is held by an Indian foreign service officer of the rank of secretary to the govern ...

, Jahan was so extensively involved with

organizing that she was regularly followed by plainclothes policemen. Jahan's organizing activities continued until March 1949, when she was jailed for three months for participating in a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

that paralyzed the United Provinces railway system. Jahan was released in May 1949 after participating in a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

with her fellow prisoners, but

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

caused Jahan's health to deteriorate by early 1950 and made Jahan unable to continue her lifelong

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

projects.

Death

On 2 July 1952, Jahan and her husband left India for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to seek treatment for Jahan's

uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the uteru ...

. Jahan was admitted to the

Kremlin Hospital The Central Clinical Hospital of the Administrative directorate of the President of the Russian Federation (russian: Центральная клиническая больница c поликлиникой Управления делами Пре ...

but died on 29 July 1952, soon after arriving. Jahan is buried in a

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

cemetery, where her tombstone reads, "Communist Doctor and Writer."

Literary output

It is thought that Jahan wrote approximately 25-30 original short stories and 15-20 original plays in her lifetime. Two of these short stories appear in ''Angaaray'' and six appear in ''Aurat'', while the rest have been lost to time for reasons of obscurity or limited initial circulation. The plays Jahan wrote were intended for radio, and were generally aired on

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

during her lifetime. Jahan also produced a number of translations of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

short storiesamong them works by

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

, and

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

and dramatized short stories written by other

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known by his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of ...

. Jahan's writings have appeared in ''Woh aur Dusre Afsane wa Drame'' (Maktaba Jamia, 1977) and ''A Rebel and Her Cause'' (Rakshanda Jalil, 2014).

''Angaaray''

Published in December 1932 by Nizami Press, ''Angaaray'' (translated alternatively as "Embers" or "Burning Coals") was a volume of 10 short stories written by

, Ahmed Ali, Rashid Jahan, and Mahmuduz Zafar. Zaheer contributed 5 short stories to the collection, Ali two, Jahan two, and Zafar one. The two pieces that Jahan contributed to ''Angaaray'' were ''Dilli ki Sair'' ("A Trip to Delhi") and ''Parde ke Peeche'' ("Behind the Veil"). ''Dilli ki Sair'' is a three page

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

told from the perspective of a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

woman, Malika Begum of

Faridabad Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...

, who is telling her friends about her trip to

with her husband. However, as her husband left her at the train station to meet one of his friends, the story largely consists of the narrator relating the happenings on the railway platform as she sits on her luggage, starving, and waiting for her husband to take her home. When her husband does return, he offers her a

puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...

, leftovers from his meal in a restaurant, and becomes angry when she refuses. The narrator concludes her story by declaring that she would not want to take a trip even to paradise with her husband. As such, the story is considered to be a brief but penetrating meditation on life behind the veil and the blindness of

male privilege Male privilege is the system of advantages or rights that are available to men solely on the basis of their sex. A man's access to these benefits may vary depending on how closely they match their society's ideal masculine norm. Academic studi ...

towards the experience of women behind the

purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...

. ''Parde ke Peeche'' is a conversation between two women from affluent,

sharif Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, fr ...

families. One of the women, Muhammadi Begum, has become sick due to multiple

pregnancies Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but can ...

, having given birth to a daughter every year that she has been married to her husband, who insists on a male heir. Her husband forces her to go through several operations on her sexual organs to make her more attractive and more capable of producing a boy, but Aftab Begum, Muhammadi's

sister-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred ...

and interlocutor, eventually secures the services of a female doctor. This doctor warns Begum's husband that the continuous pregnancies are weakening the health of Muhammadi and suggests that the couple use birth control. This suggestion is clearly ignored, however, as by the end of the story, Begum has finally given birth to a boy, who is shown to mistreat his many elder sisters in the closing scene.

Controversy

''Angaaray'' railed against social inequity, hypocritical Mawlawis, and the exploitation of women in a deeply

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...

society. These criticisms caused an uproar in the

ic community, and ''Angaaray'' was publicly condemned by the Central Standing Committee of the All-India Shia Conference in Lucknow as a "filthy pamphlet" that had "wounded the feelings of the entire Muslim community."

Fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

s were issued against the book and the Urdu press called for its

proscription Proscription ( la, proscriptio) is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' (''Oxford English Dictionary'') and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated ...

. Demonstrations were held outside book stores and the publisher had to issue a written apology and surrender unsold copies to the government. In March 1933, the British colonial government banned the book for violating religious freedoms under Section 295A of the

Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...

. The outcry was so severe that only five copies from the original press run still exist.

''Aurat''

''Aurat'' was a 1937 collection of six short stories and the titular play written by Rashid Jahan. A second edition was published posthumously in 1963 at the behest of Jahan's father,

Bibliography

The literary works of Jahan include. *''

'' (Nizami Press, Lucknow, 1932) **''Dilli ki Sair'' **''Parde ke peeche'' *''Aurat aur digar afsane'' (Hashmi Book Depot, Lahore, 1937): collection of a play and six short stories **''Aurat'' ** ''Mera ek safar'' **''Sadak'' **''Pun'' **''Istakshara'' **''Garibon ka Bhagvan'' **''Salma'' * ''Gosha-e-'afiyat'' (Corner of Prosperity), radio play produced in 1948 *''Sh'ula-e jvala'' (India Publisher, Lucknow, 1974) published posthumously under the editorship Dr. Hamida Saiduzzafar, and Naeem Khan **''Iftari'' **''Woh'' **''Sauda'' **''Asif Jahan ki Bahu'' **''Chidda ki Ma'' **''Andhe ki lathi''

Legacy

In 1975, a memorial was held at the Ghalib Academy in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

for the 70th anniversary of Jahan's birth. The event was attended by a number of prominent Urdu and Hindi writers as well as numerous government officials. In 2004, Aligarh Muslim University stymied a proposed observance of Rashid Jahan's centenary, fearing that "it would provoke political agitation." Jahan's younger sister,

(1918 – 1989), was a noted film actress in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in the 1930s and 1940s, and later was an accomplished TV actress in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Mirza's

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

was published in English in 2005 and includes a chapter on Rashid Jahan (pp. 86–104, ''A Woman of Substance: The Memoirs of Begum Khurshid Mirza'', New Delhi: Zubaan, 2005).LAHORE: A tribute to late artiste (Begum Khurshid Mirza)
Dawn (newspaper), Published 26 March 2004, Retrieved 24 December 2019

References

External links

one-act play, translated into English by Steven M. Poulos in ''Annual of Urdu Studies'', v. 1, 1981
''Angaaray'' (Penguin Books, 2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jahan, Rashid 1905 births 1952 deaths Deaths from uterine cancer Indian women short story writers Women writers from Uttar Pradesh Urdu-language short story writers Indian communists People from Aligarh Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Communist women writers Indian political writers Indian women political writers 20th-century Indian short story writers Urdu-language writers from India Progressive Writers' Movement Female politicians of the Communist Party of India Communist Party of India politicians from Uttar Pradesh