Begum Roquia

From Legacyview Dictionary of Biography

(c. 1880-1932)

Begum Roquia, also known as Begum Roquia Sakhawat Hussain, Begum R. S. Hussain or Begum Rokeya, was a pioneer of women’s liberation movement in the South Asian subcontinent.

She was a prolific author, relentless activist for gender equality, and the founder of the Anjuman e Khateen e Islam (Islamic Women’s Association) during the colonial era.

Begum Roquia was born in the Rangpur district of northern Bangladesh during the British occupation of the South Asian subcontinent.

Her family was an aristrocratic Muslim family (Ashraf). The medium of education at home was the combination of both Arabic and Persian languages As per cultural standards of the day, her family was against teaching Bangla which according to them was a tool of preaching ‘Hindu communalism’. But Roquia eventually learned both English and Bangla with the help of her elder brother Ibraheem.

At the age of 16, she married Urdu speaking Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hussain who was a civil sevant under British administration.

Sakhawat Hussain also was a progressive supporter of the women’s education movement. He encouraged his wife Begum Roquia to begin writing and to accumulate money to use in the founding of a school primarily for Muslim girls.

Begum Roquia set up the Sakhawat Memorial High School in 1909, naming it in tribute of her husband who died earlier the same year.

Begum Roquia wrote extensively on the struggle for women’s rights and education and maintained active involvement in her girls’ school until her death.

She remains a revered and celebrated figure in the history of Bangladesh.

Related link:Wikipedia.

Bibliography: Marxists Internet Archive, www.marxists.org