Begum Rokeya, the pioneer Bengali feminist
- এডিট ডেস্ক
- Dec 16, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: May 9, 2023
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was famous in the name of Begum Rokeya, She was the pioneer Bengali feminist, a Bengali writer, and activist.
December 9 is the birth and death of Begum Rokeya, a pioneer of women's awakening. The nation remembers with reverence this majestic woman constantly struggling to free herself from the shackles of religious orthodoxy and superstition. Rokeya was born on December 9, 1880 in a zamindar family in Payraband, Rangpur. She was known as Rokeya Khatun, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, and Mrs. RS Hossain. She was the first to raise her voice against the subjugation of thousands of women in the nineteenth century.
Begum Rokeyara had two brothers and sisters: Father Zahir Uddin Muhammad Abul Ali Haider Saber and mother Rahatunnesa Chowdhurani. Seeing Rokeya's indomitable interest in knowledge and education, the elder brother Ibrahim Saber used to teach Begum Rokeya and another sister Karimununnesa in the light of invisible candles.
In 1889, at 16, Begum Rokeya married Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain, the Deputy Magistrate of Bhagalpur. He got the company of another progressive man. Swami Sakhawat Hossain Begum saw Rokeya's keen interest in education and started teaching her Bengali and English and helping her with writing. She entered the world of literature in 1902 by writing a Bengali story called 'Picasa.'
She wrote her famous book, Sultana's Dream, in English in 1905 in The Indian Ladies Magazine. Sakhawat Hossain was overwhelmed by the text, and with his encouragement Sultanas Dreams was published in book form in 1906. This book is considered a milestone in the feminist literature of the world. Her other books are "Abrodhabasini," " Matichur, "And " Padmarag."
Sakhawat Hossain died in 1909. Five months after the death of her beloved, Rokeya established a girls 'school called Sakhawat Memorial Girls' School in Bhagalpur. Initially, there were only eight students.
In four years, it rose to 84. It became a high school in the mid-1930s. Rokeya keeps herself busy with organizational and social activities until the last day of her life, besides running the school and literary activities. Begum Rokeya died on December 8, 1932. The day celebrates as Rokeya Day. Her grave is located at Sodpur in North Kolkata, later discovered by Amalendu Dey, Professor, Department of History, Jadavpur University. This time, five women of the country received the 'Rokeya Padak' for contributing to various fields of society as part of the program.
This year, the 2021 Begum Rokeya Medal recipients received the Medal of Honor from State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nesa Indira on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital.
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