Begum Rokeya Day will be observed on Tuesday, marking the 145th birth and 93rd death anniversary of writer and women’s rights pioneer Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain — even as major disputes continue over the misrepresentation of her name and the government’s failure to preserve her heritage.
Although Rokeya herself never used the title Begum, and actively argued against attaching it to her name, the state continues to promote her as “Begum Rokeya” in institutions, books and awards. Researchers say no document from her lifetime — letters, manuscripts or book covers — bears the title.
Rokeya signed as Rokeya Khatun, Ruku, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain or Mrs R S Hossain.
Yet over the decades, writers, editors, academics and state authorities repeatedly added Begum to her name, from Dhaka University’s Rokeya Hall to Bangla Academy publications, to literary research and encyclopaedias.
“This distortion is now a monument to our national ignorance,” said Dr Tuhin Wadud, head of the Department of Bengali at Begum Rokeya University. “The name an author chooses for herself cannot be altered. Correcting this mistake is urgent.”
Researchers argue that attaching Begum makes her name grammatically contradictory, since it already contains her husband’s name. They urged Bangla Academy to standardise her name as Mrs R. S. Hossain or Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain — the forms she used throughout her life.
Meanwhile, decades-old promises to develop Pairaband — Rokeya’s birthplace — into a cultural and research hub remain stuck in bureaucracy. None of the 300 bighas of tax-free land, nor her family mosque, pond or ancestral home, have been recovered or restored.
No initiative has been taken to bring back her remains from Kolkata, a demand repeated for many years.
There is, however, one major breakthrough this year: the long-neglected Rokeya Memorial Centre will finally be integrated with Begum Rokeya University.
The university’s Vice Chancellor Dr Md Showkat Ali said the integration will “open new doors for promoting Rokeya’s life, work and progressive ideals among the new generation.”
