Today
marks the 19th death anniversary of Sufia Kamal, a renowned poet and a
pioneer of women's rights movement in Bangladesh. On the occasion,
different socio-cultural organisations arranged various programmes,
including discussion and cultural function, to pay tribute to the poet.
Sufia
Kamal was born to Shayestabad's Nawab family in Barisal in 1911. She
not only witnessed great changes in society and history but also
influenced the positive transformation of the status of women as well as
the Bangladeshi society. This iconic figure dedicated her life to
empowering women. She was at the forefront of all political, social and
cultural movements during her lifetime to establish human rights and
achieve women's emancipation.
During her childhood, women's
education especially for Muslims was prohibited. Sufia Kamal was taught
to read and write Bengali by her mother. This opened a new world to her
and the family library proved to be a treasure trove where she could
spend considerable time. Whatever little learning all these highly
disorganised, non-formal methods offered; Sufia Kamal took full
advantage of those. At the age of 12, she got married to Syed Nehal
Hossain, her cousin.
After this, Sufia Kamal left Shaistabad and
settled in Barisal, the district town. Her husband was an aspiring
writer associated with a literary journal. The town life offered her an
opportunity to come out of home, of course with proper veil, and get
involved in social work along with the progressive Brahma women. She
also took part in the non-cooperation movement called by Mahatma Gandhi
and woven thread on charka as a mark of protest. Inspired by her
husband, she wrote a short-story Sainik Badhu and a few poems which were
published in a literary journal. She got involved in literary
activities, came to know Kazi Nazrul Islam, the Rebel Poet (1899-1976)
and Mohammad Nasiruddin (1888-1994), a great patron of Muslim authors.
Nasiruddin, the editor and publisher of Showgat, a literary journal that
promoted young and upcoming writers, inspired Sufia Kamal to engage
herself into writing. Sufia put much effort in reading books and
sharpened her writing style. She also had a very short but fruitful
contact with Rokeya Sakhawat's social organisation promoting awareness
among women, especially in the slums.
She published her first
story at 14, and her prose and poems drew favorable notice. Some works
were aimed at children. Some were translated into English and Russian.
Increasingly, she wrote against religious communalism, fundamentalism
and superstitions. She promoted democracy and women's emancipation. "The
culture was to keep the women at home, train them in household chores
and make them perfect women: docile, ready to please everyone in the
family," she said in an interview. "There was a strong anti-British
movement, and my family also believed that women should stay out of it.
But I had an indomitable nature and I crossed my limits to get a taste
of all there was. I was allowed to learn Arabic and a little Persian,
but not Bengali. I made it a point to learn Bengali from people working
in the house." That became the language she used for her writing.
Sufia
Kamal was blossoming in Kolkata with active support of her husband,
trying her hand in creative writing and getting involved with social
work, a great disaster struck her. Her husband died of tuberculosis in
1932. After five years of his death Sufia was married to Kamaluddin
Ahmed. In addition to her first daughter, Sufia had two other daughters -
Sultana Kamal and Saida Kamal and two sons - Shahed Kamal and Sajed
Kamal.
Sufia's first poem, Bashanti, was published in Saogat
magazine in 1926. In 1931, she became the first Bengali Muslim female to
be the member of Indian Women Federation She took part in all political
movements that defined the future of the country since 1947. Her role
in the struggle leading to the 1971 Liberation War, anti-autocratic
movement in 1990 and the anti-collaborator movement in 1992 are
memorable. Sufia was instrumental in establishing the Bangladesh Mahila
Parishad, Chhayanaut and Kachi Kanchar Mela.
She received the
Independence Day Award, Ekushey Padak, Bangla Academy Award, Deshbandhu
CR Das Gold Medal, and many other national and international accolades.
The writer is a literary critic.
