By Wajid Ali Khan Panni
The nation observed Begum Rokeya Day on December 8 to commemorate Begum Rokeya’s revolutionary role in advancing the causes of women in this subcontinent. It was she who took the first step for awakening the Muslim womenfolk in the British India through education in an adverse environment.
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880 – 1932) started a school in 1909 for Muslim girls at Bhagalpur town in Bihar after her husband Syed Sakhawat Hossain’s demise. But this noble venture faced many impediments, so she was compelled close down the school and moved to Calcutta where she opened the Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School in 1911. At the age of 21, she started publishing articles about the condition of women.
By 1930, it was upgraded to a high school where Bengali and English were regular courses. In 1926, Rokeya presided over the Bengal Women’s Education Conference held in Calcutta. She was active in debates and conferences concerning the advancement of women until her death in December 9,1932, shortly after presiding over a session during the Indian Women’s Conference in Aligarh.
Women constitute approximately half of the world’s total population. While we consider the dual role of women in both productive and reproductive realm of life, their social contribution is more than men. Yet, participation of women in socio-economic and political process is far less compared to men.
Given their social roles and responsibilities, women are disadvantaged with regard to access to resources and power compared to men. Women’s civil and political participation implies women’s capability to participate in all spheres of public and political activities and decision making process. However, the power relations that shape social, political, economic and cultural life prevent women from participating fully in all areas of their lives, whether it’s in the home, or in the public arena. Even though women tried to assert their role in society and politics since time immemorial, through effective interventions, there still exists a cultural, religious and structural barrier which keeps women’s position in society less significant than men. According to UN, “women’s historic exclusion from political structures and processes is the result of multiple structural, functional and personal factors that vary in different social contexts across countries”. Religion, patriarchy, military domination, lack of experienced women, family responsibilities, unfair party nomination process, lack of funding etc are some of the cultural and institutional factors which affect political participation of women.
The movement towards gender equality in politics was greatly influenced by human rights and civil liberties movements of the second half of 20th century. However, as a movement towards equal suffrage rights, it started in 18th century itself.
The Beijing conference envisaged to occupy at least 30 per cent of the political positions for women. However, as per the latest data of 2008, women occupy only 18 per cent parliamentary seats across the world. There is significant regional variation as well. It is evident that except Nordic countries like Norway, Sweden Denmark and Switzerland, all other countries women lags far behind men in political decision making roles.
Bangladesh scenario
In South Asia, women still face social and religious barriers which had affected their political and social participation. Bangladesh is not an exception, even though we proudly share the great tradition of Begum Rokeya who was the embodiment of emancipated and liberated women of the 20th century.
The Constitution of Bangladesh grants equal rights to women and men in all spheres of public life [Article 28(1), 28(2), and 28(3)]. Various laws have been enacted and amended to protect women’s rights: the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961, the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act of 1974, the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, the Family Court Ordinance of 1985, and the Child Marriage Registration Act of 1992 etc are some of them. Interestingly, Bangladesh was one of the first among developing countries to establish a separate ministry for Women Affairs in 1978.
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