Sufia Kamal was ahead of her time

Begum Sufia Kamal’s thoughts and ideologies were ahead of her time, and she will continue to inspire all those who work for women’s rights in the country, speakers at a memorial said yesterday.

The programme was organised to mark the 20th death anniversary of the prominent poet, activist and founding president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) Sufia Kamal.

The women’s rights platform organised the discussion at its auditorium, which is also named after the luminary.

In her speech, BMP acting President Dr Fauzia Moslem said Sufia Kamal was a progressive poet with a strong sense of social responsibility. 

Rakhi Das Purkayastha, joint general secretary of BMP, said the Vienna Conference of 1993 (the World Conference on Human Rights orgnised by the UN) had termed women’s rights the human rights, something Sufia Kamal first said in 1991, two years prior to the conference.”

Rakhi said BMP will follow the ideals of Sufia Kamal to establish human rights in the country.

Tanusree Mallik, a researcher at the Institute of Education and Research (IER) of Dhaka University, also spoke at the event.