PAIRABAND, Rangpur — Residents of this village are demanding that the remains of Begum Rokeya, a pioneer of Muslim women’s awakening in the Indian subcontinent, be brought home from Kolkata and buried at her birthplace.
Rokeya was born in Pairaband in Mithapukur upazila. Each year a three-day Begum Rokeya observance begins here on Dec. 9, marking her birth and death.
The birthplace of the woman who led Muslim women out of darkness toward light still lies neglected, residents said. Their main demand is that her remains be brought from Sodpur in Kolkata, India, and reinterred in Pairaband. Other demands include opening a memorial center and recovering 51 acres of land said to be under illegal occupation.
Pairaband was once steeped in strict purdah, superstition and parochialism, and girls lived confined lives, residents said. That has eased over time. Girls now go to schools and colleges in groups, child marriage has fallen and women are becoming self-reliant through hard work.
Rokeya died of cardiac arrest on Dec. 9, 1932, in Sodpur, West Bengal, India, and was buried there. Locals have long demanded that her remains be returned to Pairaband. That demand has gone unanswered but is now growing stronger.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report