Begum Roquia Sakhawat Hussain, (Bengali: বেগম রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াৎ হুসাইন), (1880 – December 9, 1932), popularly known as Begum Rokeya (Bengali: বেগম রোকেয়া), was a leading feminist writer and social worker in undivided Bengal during the early 20th century. She is most famous for her efforts on behalf of gender equality and other social issues. She established the first school aimed primarily at
She was born Roquia Khatun but achieved prominence as Begum Roquia Sakhawat Hussain. Begum is an honorific, that is, a title of respect in addressing muslim women. When she wrote in English, she transliterated her name as Roquia.
Life
Roquia Khatun was born in 1880 in the village of Pairabondh,Mithapukur, Rangpur, present Bangladesh, in what was then the British Indian Empire. Her father, Jahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Haidar Saber, was a highly educated zamindar
(landlord). Roquia had two sisters, Karimunnesa Khatun and Humayra
Khatun; and three brothers, one of whom died in childhood. Roquia's
eldest brother Ibrahim, and her immediate elder sister Karimunnesa, both
had great influence on her life. Karimunnesa wanted to study Bengali, the language of the majority in Bengal. The family disliked this because many upper class Muslims of the time preferred to use Arabic and Persian as the media of education, instead of their native language, Bengali. Ibrahim taught English and Bengali to Roquia and Karimunnesa; both sisters became authors.
Karimunnesa married at the age of fourteen, later earning a reputation as a poet. Both of her sons, Nawab Abdul Karim Gaznawi and Nawab Abdul Halim Gaznawi, became famous in the political arena and occupied ministerial portfolios under British authorities.
Roquia married at the age of sixteen in 1896. Her Urdu-speaking husband, Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hussain, was the Deputy Magistrate of Bhagalpur, which is now a district under the Indian state of Bihar.
He continued her brother's work by encouraging her to keep learning
Bengali and English. He also suggested that she write, and on his advice
she adopted Bengali as the principal language for her literary works
because it was the language of the masses. She launched her literary
career in 1902 with a Bengali essay entitled Pipasa (Thirst).
In 1909, Sakhawat Hussain died. He had encouraged his wife to set aside money to start a school primarily for Muslim women. Five months after his death, Roquia established a high school in her beloved husband's memory, naming it Sakhawat Memorial Girls' High School.
It started in Bhagalpur, a traditionally Urdu-speaking area, with only
five students. A dispute with her husband's family over property forced
Roquia to move the school in 1911 to Calcutta (now known as Kolkata), a Bengali-speaking area. It remains one of the city's most popular schools for girls and is now run by the state government of West Bengal.
Begum Roquia also founded the Anjuman e Khawateen e Islam (Islamic Women's Association),
which was active in holding debates and conferences regarding the
status of women and education. She advocated reform, particularly for
women, and believed that parochialism and excessive conservatism were
principally responsible for the relatively slow development of Muslims
in British India. As such, she is one of the first Islamic feminists. She was inspired by the traditional Islamic learning as enunciated in the Qur'an,
and believed that modern Islam had been distorted or corrupted; her
organization Anjuman e Khawateen e Islam organised many events for
social reforms based on the original teachings of Islam that, according
to her, were lost.
Begum Roquia remained busy with the school, the association, and her writings for the rest of her life. She died of heart problems on December 9, 1932. In Bangladesh, December 9 is celebrated as Rokeya Day.
Begum Roquia was an inspiring figure who contributed much to the
struggle to liberate women from the bondage of social malaises. Her life
can be seen in the context of other social reformers within what was then India. To raise popular consciousness, especially among women, she wrote a number of articles, stories and novels, mostly in Bengali.
Begum Roquia used humor, irony, and satire to focus attention on the
injustices faced by Bengali-speaking Muslim women. She criticized
oppressive social customs forced upon women that were based upon a
corrupted version of Islam, asserting that women fulfilling their potential as human beings could best display the glory of Lord.
Begum Roquia wrote courageously against restrictions on women in order to promote their emancipation, which, she believed, would come about by breaking the gender division of labor.
She rejected discrimination for women in the public arena and believed
that discrimination would cease only when women were able to undertake
whatever profession they chose. In 1926, Begum Roquia strongly condemned
men for withholding education from women in the name of religion as she
addressed the Bengal women's education conference:
The opponents of the female education say that women will be unruly ... fie! They call themselves muslims and yet go against the basic tenet of islam which gives equal right to education. If men are not led astray once educated, why should women?
Works
Begum Rokeya wrote in a number of genres, short stories, poems,
essays, novels and satirical writings, developing a distinctive literary
style, characterized by creativity, logic and a wry sense of humor. She
started writing in the Nabanoor from about 1903, under the name of Mrs. RS Hossain. However, there is an opinion that her first published writing Pipasha appeared in the Nabaprabha in 1902. She wrote regularly for the Saogat, Mohammadi, Nabaprabha, Mahila, Bharatmahila, Al-Eslam, Nawroz, Mahe-Nao, Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Patrika, The Mussalman, Indian Ladies Magazine,
etc. Her writings called upon women to protest against injustices and
break the social barriers that discriminated against them.
She wrote.
- Pipasha ("Thirst", 1902).
- Motichur (essays, 1st vol 1904, 2nd Vol. 1922). The second volume of Matichur includes stories and fairy tales such as Saurajagat (The Solar System), Delicia Hatya (translation of the Murder of Delicia, by Mary Corelli), Jvan-phal (The Fruit of Knowledge), Nari-Sristi (Creation of Women), Nurse Nelly, Mukti-phal (The Fruit of Emancipation), etc.
- Sultana's Dream, (satire, 1908) a notable early work of feminist science fiction involving a utopian male/female role-reversal. It is a satirical piece, a feminist utopia, set in a place called Lady Land, a world ruled by women. Later translated as Sultanar Swopno.
- Saogat (1918, poetry). Her poem titled ‘Saogat’ was published on the first page of the first issue of the Saogat in Agrahayan.
- Padmarag ("Essence of the Lotus", novel, 1924). A feminist utopia.
- Oborodhbashini ("The Secluded Women", 1931)
- Boligarto (short story).
- Narir Adhikar ("The Rights of Women"), an unfinished essay for the Islamic Women's Association
