The journey of Tasmida Johar, India's first graduate from the displaced Rohingya community, is a testament to resilience and determination.
However, it also carries the weight of the many Rohingya women who aspired to follow her path but could not.
Johar, 26, reflects on her unique achievement with mixed emotions. "I feel happy about these headlines, 'first this, first that,' but at the same time, it also makes me sad. I am happy because this is my achievement, of making it this far," she shared during an interview with Al Jazeera in a park located in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in New Delhi. "But it makes me sad that I am the first one to do when so many Rohingya women wanted to come to this position but they could not."
The Rohingyas, a persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar, faced a brutal military crackdown in 2017, which the United Nations has described as having a "genocidal intent." Most Rohingyas then sought refuge in Bangladesh, where the beach city of Cox's Bazar became home to the world's largest refugee camp, housing over a million people in cramped makeshift shelters.
In India, nearly 20,000 Rohingyas are registered with the United Nations as refugees, with some having arrived even before 2017. Over 1,000 of them reside on the outskirts of New Delhi. Since 2014, when the BJP came to power in India, the Rohingya community has faced hate speech and attacks, according to Al Jazeera, and the government announced last year that Rohingya refugees would be held in detention camps until their deportation to Myanmar.
India is not a signatory to the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and it lacks a national refugee policy.
Downs and ups
Displacement and discrimination mark Tasmida Johar's journey. Born as Tasmin Fatima in Myanmar, her parents were forced to change her name, as people with non-Buddhist names could not access education in Myanmar.
Her father, Amanullah Johar, faced challenges running a business selling fruits and vegetables and was often detained and extorted by authorities, as was the case for most Rohingyas.
Johar said schools in Myanmar would discriminate against Rohingya students in various ways, including denying them prizes for academic excellence.
“Roll numbers were allotted to Buddhist children first and then to us. We were not allowed to speak loudly [and] always had to sit at the back of the class. We were prohibited from wearing scarves (hijab) in schools.”
As the persecution grew, her family left Myanmar in 2005 and sought refuge in Bangladesh, where he father would start working as a labourer and her mother at a local factory.
In 2012, they faced targeted violence in Bangladesh, Johar told Al Jazeera. This prompted their move to India, where they initially settled in Haryana.
In India, Johar faced her share of challenges, including language barriers and concerns about revealing her identity as a Rohingya.
However, she persisted in her education, learning multiple languages and eventually graduating with a degree in political science from Delhi University.
Johar said her community was afraid as they went about their lives in India.
“Rohingya refugees think if they send their girls outside to study, what if the government picks them up? What if they are kidnapped, raped or sold? This is a projection of what transpired in Burma. Hence, there is a perpetual anxiety among them for their children.”
Johar's success has inspired her community, demonstrating that education can open doors and elevate voices. She said she believed that education was the most valuable gift refugees could give their children.
She is one of 25 refugee students selected by the UNHCR-Duolingo program to pursue higher education, and she was awaiting an acceptance letter from Wilfred Laurier University in Canada when she gave the interview earlier this year.
Her dream is to become a human rights activist, advocating for the rights of oppressed women and children and raising awareness about the plight of Rohingya refugees on the global stage.
“I want to fight for the rights to education [and] health of the oppressed women, and raise [my] voice against trafficking of young girls. My dream is to go to the International Court of Justice and tell them about the plight of Rohingya refugees. It is only befitting that a Rohingya takes the mic and speaks the truth as we are being wiped from many privileged spaces and stories,” she told Al Jazeera.
