Some people were born to make difference in the world. Who knew Rokeya Sakhwat Hossain(1880-1932), popularly known as Begum Rokeya, as a woman who would be able to break the shackles and ignore the prejudices set up by society? She did not break the barriers with her words only; she rather exemplified her commitment and dedication through her activism too. Apart from maintaining her household chores, she not only engaged herself in writings, but she established educational institutions and collected students by visiting door to door also. A famous feminist writer named Mary Wollstonecraft in her book A Vindication for the Rights of Woman quoted "I do not wish them to have power over men but over themselves." Rokeya gradually cultivated that power and that is why external evil forces failed to stop her journey towards change.
Believing that women must create their world and destiny, she marched on to change her life, and subsequently the lives of other women too. She defied her traditional upbringing and with the help of her brother and husband she came out of the cocoon to create miracles and magic in the lives of many downtrodden village girls and women with the touch of a magic lamp named 'Education'. She even spent her own money to bear the educational expenses of many poor girls in her area. And, rightly so, in 1911, she gave her highest endeavour and fight to establish Sakhawat Memorial School for the betterment of women.
She also educated herself in English. English was then unofficially prohibited for Muslim women. With the help of her sister, brother, and husband she easily learned this foreign language. Her first biographer Shamsunnahar Mahmud comments: "They had to wait for the dead of the night to be able to conduct their secret studies since the family objected to such untraditional learning for girls." She then secretly kept on reading English novels and poetry and ventured into the realm of the writing of her own which were almost always based on the empowerment of women. And, apart from her influential Bengali essays and novels, she composed three majestic English pieces: 'God Gives, Man Robs', and 'Educational Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl', and 'Sultana's Dream'.
Her husband helped her a lot and supported her from every angle of life. Even she encouraged her to write in English. After reading Sultana's Dream, he sent it to one of his British mentors. Within a short period, after the publication of the book, she became famous as the book stirred the minds of the intellectuals and created controversy too.
She was a staunch supporter and patron of women's education. As Muslim women were so backward due to the patriarchal subjugation and social prejudices, she dreamt of sowing the seed of education among them. In her essay, StreeJatirObotoni, she declares: "When we perform upright works with our hands, witness with the eyes, listen with ears and can contemplate rationally, that is education." In another essay named "Burqa" she emphasizes the higher education of women and opines that unless they achieve it, they will always lag behind their better halves. Thus, she writes "we must encourage all branches of knowledge." She did not want to see women as 'inferior', 'fragile' and' 'docile" creatures; on the contrary, she instigated them to fight for their rights, freedom, and dreams.
Revolutionary books by the feminists -A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97), A Room of One's Own (1929) by Virginia Woolf, and The Second Sex (1949) by Simone de Beauvoir- were then created a buzz to champion and advocate the rights of women. From then on there was no way to look back and feminists started to bargain a way of their world to explore their lives instead of merely comparing them with their male counterparts. And, we become stunned when we observe that Rokeya, being raised in a conservative Muslim Bengali family, did not follow those feminists blindly whereas she engaged herself to unravel the inner realms and avenues of women to break the dogmatic attitude of the patriarchy. Through her many writings, she tried to unearth a philosophical and spiritual 'self' of women which gets suppressed and ignored by the male chauvinist society. She declares "As man became more civilizedthey have subordinated woman through their physical and intellectual prowess..." (StreejatirObonati, in RokeyaRachanaboli)
She was against Purdah though she wore it all through her life. In her book Abarodhbasini, she shouts and laments " why had I born in a Country of purdah?". She employed the word 'Purdah'- both literally and metaphorically- to insinuate the sheer confinement of women under the patriarchal, religious, and parochial gaze. She was a lady of vision and a harbinger of change who shunned all sort of parochialism, and sectarianism. She could not endure an iota of injustice, partisanism, bigotry, prejudices, and victimization perpetrated against women. However, in doing so, this great lady never put women as the rival of men; rather she fought for and wrote to create a reciprocal, symbiotic, and inter-dependent society.
In the 21st century, we have seen the changes that Begum Rokeya once dreamt of. We have already witnessed the mass participation of women in education; their involvement in outdoor activities; their zeal to work hand in hand with men. The South Asian countries like Bangladesh are marching forward to ensure women's education and to establish the rights of women. Yet, we are far behind on many scales. We have to go miles to emancipate our women from the visible and invisible chains. Hence, women especially need to follow the footsteps of Rokeya to emancipate themselves from the restraint and manacle of the callous male-dominated society. However, first and foremost, they need to understand their worth from inside and out. Lastly, salute this prolific writer, educationist, social reformer, and above all a leader.
The writer is an Assistant Professor, Department of English, Daffodil International University
