December 9 marks the birth and death anniversary of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, commonly known as Begum Rokeya, the pioneer of Bengali women’s awakening, writer and social reformer. She was born in 1880 and passed away on the same date in 1932 in Kolkata. Her remarkable contribution to advancing women’s education and rights in a deeply conservative society remains a source of inspiration even today.
Born into a noble zamindar family in Pairaband, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh) opportunities for girls’ education in Muslim society were extremely limited at the time. Rokeya was allowed to study Arabic and Urdu at home, but with the support of her elder brother, Ibrahim Saber, she secretly learnt Bengali and English. Her desire for knowledge was relentless and she continued her studies late at night by candlelight.
After her marriage, Rokeya began her literary career with the encouragement of her husband Syed Sakhawat Hossain. Her writing was incisive and bold. In seminal works such as ‘Motichur’, ‘Abarodh Basini’, ‘Padmarag’ and her English book ‘Sultana’s Dream’, she exposed social prejudice, gender discrimination and the unequal status of men and women through satire and sharp commentary. She believed that no society could progress while half its population remained in darkness.
Rokeya worked tirelessly to promote women’s education. After her husband’s death in 1909, she founded the Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School, first in Bhagalpur and later in Kolkata in 1911, using the funds he had left her. Despite numerous obstacles, she eventually developed the school into a leading institution for girls, opening a path to learning for Bengali Muslim women. In 1916, she also established the Muslim women’s organisation Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam, which supported the education and employment of vulnerable women.
Begum Rokeya demonstrated through her life that true social progress is impossible without the equal participation of men and women. Her ideals and achievements continue to illuminate the path to women’s empowerment in Bengal. On her anniversary, we pay the highest respect to this extraordinary woman.
