Rokeya sakhawat Hossain: A Pioneer in Indian Feminism- a Social Perspective based on “Sultana’s Dream’’ Has not yet Come True.

 A world in which women are educated, sophisticated, and free and they occupy equal status with men in the actual world, she can travel, work, dream, dwell, and speak wholeheartedly and independently, without fearing men and the society- yes Rokeya Sakhawat has concretized the mere abstract concept of gender equality through her short story, “Sultana’s Dream.” She presents the story as a walk of Sultana in her dream with a lady whom she assumes that Sister Sara. Here, the protagonist, Sister Sara enjoys all the privileges of mankind and has all the pleasures and opportunities which make her bold and intelligent. It is commonly assumed that men have more physical strength and mental power than women; hence he has been suppressing and bossing her since the historical period. As she is the weaker and senseless sex, education and such high scale affairs are being denied to her. For this question of power, Rokeya sakhawat finds an unambiguous instance that the lion is the most powerful creature, but we do not consider it as the highest order creature.

The most wonderful element is that “Sultana’s Dream” was published in 1908, an age which is too early for an Indian Muslim woman to think about feminism or the rights and possibilities of women in the society other than giving birth to their men’s offspring. Clearly, it is affirmed that Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain is essentially a pioneer in the genre of South Asian Feminism, as she was even able to think about the concept of equality, moreover equality, that she imagined a world in which women are able to manage all the main discourses, where men are retired to the zenana, which is a secluded and private place in the house.

The history of feminist criticism and theory points that Rokeya sakhawat hossain is essentially a pioneer in the field of feminist criticism and she was able to think about the highest end of feminism- equality with men. “Sultana’s Dream” is truly a wonderful example for women empowerment and the resurrection of the women folk on realizing her power and capability. If we search in the history, the crucial fact which can be found is that even the mainstream feminist critics has not enjoyed such a wonderful dream as Sultana’s. 

Feminism is a movement that was conceived with a perspective to enhance the position of women in the domestic as well as in the significant circle of the society. Mary Wolstencraft’s incredible work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which was published in 1792, is considered the earliest work in the field of feminist criticism.  Virginia Woolf has published her milestone work, A Room of One’s Own in 1929. The world began to think about the world of equality and they commemorate the female space in mainstream life was only after the publication of A Room of One’s Own. From these words themselves, it is understood how far Rokeya Sakhawat has overtaken the other forefront feminists in her writing.

While the most prominent Virginia Woolf herself attempted to write about the patriarchy-dominated world, where women are being subjugated, Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain was dreaming about a world in which women possess all the key jobs and positions and men are driven to the inner domestic area. The women in her dreamland possess not a single room but the whole world itself. They are incompatible as well as irreconcilable in their intelligence and courage. Here she presents the imaginary ideal world of women in “Sultana’s Dream.”

At the time of the publishing of this account only a few Indian women could enjoy the privilege of learning. With the benevolence of her elder brother, Ibrahim Saber, to whom Motichur has been dedicated, Rokeya could learn the art of writing and reading. Her husband, who was a magistrate of Bhagalpur and a graduate, was also generous enough to promote her in her studies of Bengali and English and gave confidence in writing. With the help of these two men in her life, she could learn and think independently. Most of the women in our surrounding are forbidden to take the fruit of education by the men folk of their family even now in the 21^th century, where some of the women have reached in the Moon and the Mars.

 It is not because of her deficiency in caliber and intelligence that she remains in the inmost apartment and looks after her husband and children and completes all the house hold chores, but the patriarchal society itself is responsible for her backwardness. The main reason is that men want everything regarding them should run smoothly, so they need a person who should perform all their requirements without any complaint and protest. The least economical solution for this need is to imprison their women in the house without education and she, almost like an animal, will not raise her voice and obey all the decrees and demands of the men folk unquestioningly.

While the writer is dreaming the lady land, the original condition of the South Asian countries was very dismal and unenthusiastic. Certain bitter social hazards like child marriage, Sati, child labour, etc. were some of the malpractices and misconduct suffered by the Bengali women and her life was almost hellish.

Here Rokeya sakhawast Hossain has reversed the whole scenario by making all the women educated and she is capable of doing all the duties usually men are supposed to do. The women of her dream land are highly educated and they have invented so many things to make their life smooth, including the conversion of the solar power into cooking energy and collecting water directly from the clouds. She is able to safeguard her country with these inventions without the aid of men. All these are doing under the strong direction of their powerful Queen, who promotes strict female education, especially science education, and raises the age of marriage of women to 21. To actualize this concept, Girls Schools are started and mass number of women gets educated and civilized. Sister Sara observes that this marks all the revolution and women occupy all important positions including the military power and hence all the men are shut in the Zenana since then.

Education can utterly transform the mere facet of the society. Now it is evident that female education can effect some farfetched transformations in the milieu, in its social, political and economical discourses. The ladies themselves invented a kind of air car which is working with the help of a hydrogen balloon so that the travelers can save time.  There has happened a kind of immense leap and bound to the status of women, as they are employed and somehow able to flee from the four walls of the kitchen. As Sister Sara herself says, “I must tell you that before this change we had been kept in strict purdah.” 

Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain has her own explicit ideology concerning the law and order of the dream land. Here she describes every minute detail regarding the life structure of the lady land. As all the main stream dwellers are women and men are only subordinates as he has to perform all the domestic chores including cooking and child care, the place is set accordingly.

Women can save time also. They have managed to complete the seven hours work of men into merely two hours. Sister Sara mocks that men do waste all the five hours by smoking cheroots and chatting with other workers. At this instance the writer is sarcastically recounting the common behavior of men. Similarly the crime rate is very low, as all men are shut up in the zenana. The ultimate punishment is the banishment from this lady land. No other punishment is sufficient for the convicts than the mere expulsion from such a developed and peaceful state.

Rokrya Sakhawat Hossain was not only a writer, but also a social reformer. In her utopian land, all the ladies are highly educated and are able to handle the higher ranks including to command the fight as part of the military force of the country in need. She has made it practical by running educational institutions for girls in real life.  She thinks education is the most precious thing a human can achieve in his/her lifetime. Women should not be exempted from the field of education. In the words of the Queen,

“No trade was possible with countries where the women were kept in the zenanas and so unable to come and trade with us. Men, we find are rather of lower morals and we do not like deal with them. We do not covet other people’s land; we do not fight for a piece of diamond though it may be thousandfold brighter than the Koh-I-Noor, nor do we grudge a ruler his Peacock Throne. We dive deep into the ocean of knowledge and try to find out precious gems that nature has kept in store for us. We enjoy nature’s gifts as much as we can.”[page: 169, 2015]

The writer’s words reflect then-contemporary India, in which a number of wars and struggles have been taken place in the name of precious Koh-I-Noor and the Regal Peacock Throne. At the same time she remarks that men are always fighting over their own transitory accomplishment and they are treasonous and infidel people, who cannot be trusted and the Queen is not at all ready to deal and trade with those people. Instead, she wants to transact with the women, who will be more genuine in their traits and character. Indirectly, she criticizes the imperial colonizers who have conquered this country.

“Sultana’s Dream” is not mere a dream. It is also countered as science fiction. In her dream, Sultana sees a number of human-made wonders including solar power management, water collection from the clouds without causing rain, air cars which is flying with no other fuel than with the aid of the huge hydrogen balloon which has been attached to the vehicle. In the course of their conversation, Sister Sara explains how the works which need immense physical labor have been accomplished without the help of men, that there is enough machinery that were invented which are able to mitigate the human labour. “Sultana’s Dream” is not just a dream, but a challenge or defy to the patriarchal world which misapprehends the power of women and their concept that the lady leading world is nothing but destruction. Though with slight exaggeration, Rokeya Shekhawat Hossain is successfully presenting the educated and well-employed women in her short story. They are capable to lead society without fear and embarrassment. Undoubtedly, it is clear that with the publication of this short story Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain has reached the vanguard of the feminist movement.

 

DINESH.A

Guest Faculty, Sociology

Al Shifa College of Arts and Science