RANGPUR, Dec 9, 2024 (BSS) - The Rangpur district unit of Bangladesh
Narimukti Kendra (BNK) observed Begum Rokeya Day-2024 marking the 144th birth
and 92nd death anniversaries of the great woman in the city today.
 
On the occasion, leaders and activists of the organisation brought out a
procession and arranged a rally at Press Club premises followed by placing
wreaths at the sculpture of Begum Rokeya, a pioneer of Bangalee women's
education and a social reformer who fought for equal rights for women and
men, adjacent to Begum Rokeya Government College paying rich tribute to her.
 
Presided over by district organizer of BNK Alo Begum, Rangpur district
convener of BSD (Marxist) Comrade Anwar Hossain Bablu, BNK's central
committee member Advocate Kamrunnahar Khanam Shikha, Samajtantrik Chhatra
Front Rangpur district convener Saju Basfore addressed the rally.
 
The contribution of women in all fields, including industry and agriculture
in this country, is undeniable but nowhere are women given equal pay for
equal work, the speakers said.
 
Advocate Kamrunnahar Khanam Shikha said women had fought shoulder to shoulder
with men in all struggles, including the language movement of 1952, the
liberation war of 1971 and the anti-fascist struggle of 2024.
 
"The mass uprising of 2024 would not have been possible without the
participation of women. When men could not stand in the face of attacks by
the police, Chhatra League and Jubo League, women stood in front as shields,"
she said.
 
However, after the overthrow of the fascist regime through the fight against
discrimination, the patriarchal society wants to undermine the role of women
in this struggle.
 
"In addition, women are still being humiliated in their workplace, at home
and outside in society," she added.
 
Alo Begum said, in today's so-called civilized society, the capitalist system
is making women a commodity by presenting women's bodies in obscene ways in
plays, movies and advertisements.
 
"As a result, the dream of women's freedom that the great woman Begum Rokeya
had a century ago, and for which she struggled until the moment of her death,
has still remained unfulfilled even after 92 years of her death," she said.
 
She said, the aspiration to build a society free of discrimination after the
fall of the fascist regime through many sacrifices must be embraced by
Rokeya's spirit and initiatives must be taken to eliminate discrimination
between men and women from society.