Full Name: Ayesha Khanam

Affiliation: Bangladesh Mahila Parishad

Current Position: Deceased

Date of Birth: October 18, 1947

Date of Death: January 02, 2021

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Netrokona

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Ayesha Khanam (18 October 1947 – 02 January 2021) was a true guardian of the women’s movement in Bangladesh and a heroic freedom fighter. She was devoted to the rights of disenfranchised women at the end of her student life. Her contribution to the establishment of women’s rights will be remembered. Ayesha was associated with Bangladesh Mahila Parishad from 1972. She was its first Co-General Secretary, before being elected President a decade ago, a post she remained in until her death.

Ayesha was born in the village of Gabragati in Netrokona district. Her father’s name is Golam Ali Khan and mother’s name is Jamatunnesa Khanam. She entered politics in 1962 by joining the student movement demanding the abolition of the Hamudur Rahman Education Commission during the Pakistan period.

While a student of Dhaka University, Ayesha was the Vice-President of the central committee of the Bangladesh Students Union (Chhatra Union). Besides, she was the General Secretary and Vice-President of Rokeya hall.  Ayesha played a prominent role as an organiser of some of the country's most significant historical events, including the student movement of 1962, the mass uprising of 1969 and the Liberation War of 1971. In 1971, she started campaigning among students in Dhaka to gather support for the Liberation War. Ayesha also featured in the famous photograph of a procession of female students carrying dummy rifles in Dhaka.

Ayesha went across the border to Agartala at the end of April, 1971 during the Liberation War. There, she stayed in Crafts Hostel, a camp for refugees and freedom fighters run by the Communist Party. Crafts Hostel was a temporary abode for some of those who came to India to take part in the war of independence. In Agartala, she took an initial training on medical services. After that she went to every camp in Agartala to provide medical assistance to the war wounded freedom fighters. Besides, before sending the freedom fighters on various expeditions, a short orientation was arranged for the freedom fighters by invoking the spirit of the Liberation War among the refugees and freedom fighters. She also spoke in support of the Liberation War on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra as a student representative.

After independence, Ayesha joined the movement for the establishment of women's rights based on principles of secularism and democracy. She also worked to rehabilitate women who were tortured by the invading Pakistani army and their collaborators during the War of Independence and helped the families of martyred freedom fighters. In 1972, she became the Organizing Secretary and General Secretary of the Mahila Parishad. She had been the President of the organization from 2008 till her death.

From 2002, Secretariat of the platform of Social Resistance Committee comprising of 68 organizations had been headed by Ayesha Khanam. She had played an important role in the movement for political empowerment of women, prevention of violence against women, law reform movement, implementation of CEDOW and establishment of women’s human rights. She had been vocal from the beginning on the question of elections through direct voting in the reserved women’s seats in the Parliament of Bangladesh. She also had a strong position in the global women’s movement. She attended the Vienna Conference on Human Rights in 1992 and the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. She had also participated in various sessions of the CEDOW Committee and the Commission on the Status of Women held in Geneva in 2011.

Ayesha also used to write letters on women’s issues in the newspaper.

Ayesha, the staunch defender of women’s rights in Bangladesh, passed away at a hospital in Dhaka on January 02, 2021 at the age of 74.

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