Begum Rokeya: A redoubtable Muslim feminist and educationist

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932), fondly known as Begum Rokeya, was an autodidact who became a formidable champion of women's rights and education when women in South Asia, especially Muslim women, were forced to live in subhuman conditions, almost like animals, or even worse than animals (Rokeya's analogies). She was brought up in an environment that was brutally indifferent to women and often viewed them, following the teachings of the legendary first man and lawgiver in Indian mythology, Manu and his influential "laws", as embodiments of "untruth, sin and darkness" and comparable to "dogs'' and "cows." Rokeya's mission was to root out such primitive, pejorative, and gynophobic ideas from society and make women equal to men, or even outshine them, through their education, empowerment, and emancipation.