Birth Centenary of Jahan Ara Rahman: An Inspiring Life

"My mother didn't have any educational degree. However, I used to see her lying under the mosquito net at night reading a book until my father returned from the club… Another proof of her deep interest in education was a framed picture of Begum Fazilatunnesa [the first Muslim woman graduate in Bengal] hanging in her room. At that time, Fazilatunnesa was a well-known figure in the Muslim community. So, my mother had a desire in a corner of her mind to fulfil what was not possible in her own life with her child. She wanted me to get a proper education," Jahan Ara Rahman wrote in her brief memoir. She not only fulfilled her mother's dream, but also dedicated her life to the promotion of girls' education in Bangladesh.

This inspiring woman turns 100 today.

Jahan Ara's father Mofizuddin Ahmad was a member of the Bengal Civil Service. Being the daughter of a government official, she had to travel to different places with her family. As schools weren't available at that time in many districts, she had to study privately. In 1938, her father was transferred from Darjeeling to a place where there were no girls' schools. So, she was sent to Jalpaiguri Girls' School. The challenging part for her was that she had to study Sanskrit as a second language. Under the special supervision of her headmistress Sunitibala Chandra, Jahan Ara passed the entrance examination with first division in 1939 and received a first class scholarship.

Jahan Ara got admitted to Lady Brabourne College in the then Calcutta. At that time, this college was known as "Purdah College," as it was established for Muslim girls. The hostel and college were on the same campus; therefore, girls could continue their study while maintaining purdah. Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque, the then chief minister of Bengal, played a key role in establishing this college.

Jahan Ara studied in this college for four years. She passed the IA exam securing first division, and got a second class in her BA exam. In 2014, when Jahan Ara visited Calcutta, she was given a warm reception as the only surviving student of the first batch of the Lady Brabourne College.

In 1946, she got married to Mujibur Rahman, who hailed from Sandwip and was a doctor at the Tropical Medical School in Calcutta. After partition, the Rahman family moved to Dhaka and Jahan Ara started to actively participate in social work. She played a prominent role in establishing Viqarunnisa Noon School in Dhaka. The school was named after Viqarunnisa Noon, wife of the then Governor of East Pakistan Sir Malik Feroz Khan Noon. Jahan Ara visited door to door to convince parents to send their daughters to school.

In the 1950s, Khulna was devastated by a major flood. Jahan Ara Rahman helped the flood victims with a large relief team from Dhaka.

Jahan Ara was elected the president of the East Pakistan branch of the All-Pakistan Women's Association (APWA) in the 1960s. She led the East Pakistan committee at the APWA general meeting held in Mari of erstwhile West Pakistan. She started working with the Women's Voluntary Association (WVA) during this period. She was elected the president of the WVA in Bangladesh and led the establishment of the WVA College for Girls in Lalmatia. Her younger sister Nargis Khan served as the principal of this college for quite some time. Jahan Ara also took initiative to establish a vocational training institution for girls in Dhaka's Basabo area.

In1994, Jahan Ara was elected the president of the Lady Brabourne College Alumni Association in Dhaka. A book called Brabourne Bichitra was published under her leadership. An organisation for elderly women, named Haimantika, was established under the chairmanship of Aktar Imam, and Jahan Ara Rahman worked as an adviser to this organisation from its inception. In 1947, when Nurjahan Begum started publishing the Begum magazine, Jahan Ara actively started writing for the magazine. She continued writing in the magazine until the 1980s.

Jahan Ara Rahman gradually withdrew herself from social work in the 1980s to take care of her ill husband. In 1991, her husband passed away. The couple were blessed with a son and a daughter. Their daughter, Hamim Khan, graduated from the physics department of Dhaka University with first class. She worked as a teacher at Sunbeams School in Dhaka for almost three decades. Her husband Akbar Ali Khan was a cabinet secretary and a former adviser to the caretaker government. Hamim Khan passed away in 2016; her only child Nehrin Khan passed away a year before that. Jahan Ara Rahman's son Ehsanur Rahman is a cardiologist, working in the US for 50 years now.

At 100, Jahan Ara Rahman is still healthy and sharp. We wish this incredible woman a happy birthday!

Nabiha Noha works at The Daily Star.