Women’s movement leader and freedom fighter Ayesha Khanam once said her message to the younger generations was that with equality came equal responsibility. The fearless feminist leader of Bangladesh took the responsibility on herself to build an egalitarian society, but now, with her passing, she has passed the baton to many others she inspired in her lifetime.
Ayesha Khanam, the staunch defender of women’s rights in Bangladesh, passed away at a hospital in Dhaka on Saturday at the age of 74.
The leader of the women’s rights movement fell ill in the early hours of Saturday and was rushed to a private hospital, where the on-duty physician pronounced her dead.
She had been suffering from lung cancer for long. She will be buried next to the grave of her late husband, Engineer Mortuza Hasan, in the family graveyard in her village in Netrakona.
Ayesha Khanam was exposed to politics and activism at an early age. She had been one of the prominent movement builders for social justice, women's rights and human rights since the 1960s when she was an undergraduate student.
Born on October 18, 1947, in Netrokona, Ayesha Khanam studied at Dhaka University, obtaining a master’s degree in sociology. A former vice president of the left-leaning organization Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Ayesha Khanam joined Bangladesh Mahila Parishad in 1972 and had been carrying out her responsibilities as the president of the organisation since 2008.
She became a doyenne of women’s rights leaders owing to her unparalleled work and relentless struggle in paving the way to women’s empowerment in Bangladesh.
Ayesha Khanam was a frontliner and one of the loudest voices whenever women’s rights suffered a setback. She made significant contributions to reforming gender-biased laws, enacting laws that are not gender-biased, implementing CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). In a nutshell, she carried the torch for the women's movement in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad central committee pays homage to its President Ayesha Khanam on January 2, 2021 | Courtesy
In the morning, Ayesha Khanam’s body was taken to the central office of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad in the capital, where people from all walks of life and various rights organizations paid homage to the prominent women leader.
President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock and sorrow at the demise of Ayesha Khanam.
In a message of condolence, the head of state said: "Ayesha Khanam was a brave fighter in the country's women’s rights movement."
Recalling her contributions to women’s empowerment with due respect, Abdul Hamid said Ayesha Khanam's achievements in establishing women's rights would be remembered for long.
In her message of condolence, the prime minister said in Ayesha Khanam’s death the country's women’s community had lost a genuine and brave compatriot.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin expressed profound shock at her demise.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, in its statement, said Ayesha Khanam was an active organizer of all progressive movements, including the student movement of 1962, the mass upsurge of 1969 and the Liberation War.
"Following the end of her student life, she dedicated herself to the rights of deprived, oppressed and disenfranchised women until her death.
"In her death, the women's movement in Bangladesh has lost a genuine guardian," it added.