Respect Begum Rokeya
Begum Rokeya dedicated her life for the cause of Muslim women’s education and their right to school. Her eldest brother and husband inspired Rokeya to learn Bengali and English so that she can contribute something to the society she lived in. Rokeya did not despair them. She established a school in Calcutta and moved to every family to send their children to her school.
She faced opposition and barriers, but never surrendered to conservatism and bigotry. At the same time she did not abandon hizab (veil).
Such a noble woman she was, whom remember we seldom, cite her name hardly as reference when we speak about expansion of education among women, and are shy we to tell our children about this lady. That is why when I asked a student of a public university about Rokeya, she could not say anything except that she heard her name.
In this situation, we want to request the ministry of education to issue a circular asking all the girl’s schools and colleges to display the photograph of this great lady so that our children become interested to learn about her.
Let us not forget out identity.
Abdullah Akber
Dhaka
