New Delhi:
Author Rakhshanda Jalil's recently curated exhibition and book, Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and Her Cause, at the IGNCA in Delhi, successfully revived the times and life of this remarkable radical writer and thinker.
A writer by choice and a doctor by profession and a communist by ideology, Rashid Jahan broke every rule by which a Muslim woman from a 'shareef gharana' was expected to live in pre-independent India of the 1920s and 30s.
Her break from conventions was evident not just in her choice of clothes but ideas, reflected in works like 'Angarey' published in 1932. This collection of stories and plays which Rashid Jahan co-authored with three male friends including her husband, Mehmood-uz-Zafar, was banned within 3 months for being too radical. 'Angarey' created a stir in the genteel Muslim society of the time and Rashid Jahan became a figure of controversy.
Rashid Jahan may not have acquired the popularity of the other greats of Hindi and Urdu Literature, like Munshi Premchand, Manto, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Ismat Chughta, but every one of them acknowledged her contribution to the Progressive Writers' Movement and the Indian People's Theatre Association. She was a founder member of both. In Rakhshanda's words, writing was an agency for change for her, a very Marxist concept. That's why her works continue to be relevant today
Publisher Ritu Menon believes she was the first feminist, not only in Urdu writing, but in any language. The concerns raised by her 80-90 years ago, still stand true. Issues of education for women, literacy, safe motherhood, safe contraception, are still as relevant and a long way to go before change sets in. Her unabashed vocabulary and ease with the human body were a result of her training as a doctor.
A communist to the core, Rashid succumbed to cancer at the age of 47 in Moscow. A woman for all seasons, Rashid continues to inspire and provoke.