Begum Rokeya
ESSAY / Begum Rokeya: A redoubtable Muslim feminist and educationist
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was an autodidact who became a formidable champion of women’s rights and education when women in South Asia, especially Muslim women, were forced to live in subhuman conditions, almost like animals, or even worse than animals
Essay / Rokeya’s relevance to Palestinian feminism
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online), the first known use of the term ‘feminism’–
Views / Sultana’s Dream and the issue with feminist utopias
“They should not do anything, excuse me; they are fit for nothing.”
Tribute / Celebrating Rokeya
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880–1932) was exceptional in many different ways. Born on December 9, 1880, in a sleepy village in Rangpur, undivided Bengal, she died on the same day, 52 years later,
Begum Rokeya's 'Sultana's Dream' come to life through Spanish filmmaker
"Sultana's Dream" draws inspiration from the eponymous 1905 book by the renowned Bengali feminist thinker and writer, Begum Rokeya. The story unfolds as it follows a Spanish artist residing in India who serendipitously encounters a science fiction narrative centered on "Ladyland," a utopian society where women hold sway over the nation while men retreat to seclusion and assume responsibility for domestic chores.
FEATURE / Begum Rokeya and Begum Sufia An enduring “mother-daughter” bond
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) and Begum Sufia Kamal (1911-1999), two icons in Bangla literature and culture, were not kins but kindred spirits.
The books you will meet at Dhaka Art Summit 2023
For those who are especially interested in literature in book form, the first two floors of the exhibition hold treasures.
Sister Library brings back ‘Sultana’s Dream’ and the chance to create one’s own utopia
The zine-making workshop was divided into four groups based on the central themes of Begum Rokeya’s story: arts, social justice, city planning and science & education.
BOOK EXCERPT: NONFICTION / Toward Ladyland: On the life and work of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Her 1903 piece “Alonkar na badge of slavery” marked the start of Rokeya’s explicitly feminist writing.
On the chaos of teaching English
I discover that teaching is more about reading people.
‘Luminaries of the Word’: Student designs video game on Bangladeshi women writers
"I selected excerpts from eight famous works, books like Begum Rokeya’s 'Motichur' and 'Ekattorer Diary' by Sufia Kamal, and expanded on their implied or intended meaning as best as I could."
Illustrating Begum Rokeya's ‘Sultana’s Dream’: Interview with Pakistani artist Shehzil Malik
A designer and illustrator whose work focuses on human rights, feminism, and South Asian identity, Pakistani artist Shehzil Malik has just created an artwork based on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's novella Sultana's Dream (1905).
Pakistani artist illustrates Begum Rokeya's ‘Sultana’s Dream’
A designer and illustrator whose work focuses on human rights, feminism, and South Asian identity, Malik has just created an artwork based on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s novella Sultana’s Dream (1905), which imagines a feminist utopia where women dominate the world of science, labour, and their homes.
Brilliantly rejecting the notion of inferiority
Rokeya (English spelling used by her: Roquiah) was born circa 1880 (alternately 1878) to a declining aristocratic land-owning family in the village of Pyrabund, Rangpur in present-day Bangladesh.
Women must create their own fate: PM
Emphasising that women must create their own fate and personal destiny, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said women can do all outside works maintaining decency as the religion Islam gives them that liberty.
OPINION: Rokeya’s tolerance and magnanimity
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) pursued her sustained literary, educational and political activism in the face of stiff social opposition from critics unwilling to accept her gender egalitarian messages positively.