One of the rare rebellions of her time, Roquia Sakhawat Hussain is a name that echoes ceaseless struggle to bring women under the ambit of social respect and admiration. Born in 1880, this gritty and composed lady from a small village of Pairabondh in the then undivided Bengal gave her all towards cementing a respectable position of women during her epoch.

A livid exponent of feminist movement in eastern India, Begum Rokeya conceived and implemented the idea of establishing the first school mainly aimed at Muslim girls. Issues like gender equality and women’s emancipation found a new dimension under her prudent leadership. Being the precursor of future feminist movement in India and Bangladesh, Rokeya did her bit to bolster the position of the so called ‘second sex’ in a puritanical society stuffed with orthodox ideologies.

Married off at an early age, hers was in no way a beginning worth remembering. However, the indomitable urge to stand out for a cause and be the guiding star for he contemporaries and the ages to come drove her forward.

Begum Rokeya had the funny bone as well as the tinge of sarcasm that helped her euphemism narrate real-life incidents of injustice forced upon Bengali-speaking Muslim women. She displayed enough valiance to tell it on the face of the oppressors that they are adopting immoral ways distorting version of Islam.

Oborodhbashini (“The woman in captivity”), Paddorag (“Essence of the Lotus”) and Narir Adhikar (“The Rights of Women”) are among her widely read books that openly defied restrictions on women.

source: http://www.headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com / Headlines India / Home> Social Interest News> Women / Friday – March 04th, 2011