Weekly ‘Begum’ was Nurjahan Begum’s life’s passion

It was an extraordinary journey. Nurjahan Begum became the editor of the magazine ‘Begum’ at the age of 22 soon after finishing her studies, and was with it for 69 years.

“I never tried to work for anything other than Begum. It has been my life’s work,” Nurjahan Begum, considered a pioneer among women editors in Bangladesh, had once said of herself.

Nurjahan died of geriatric ailments on Monday at the age 91. Her eyesight had been failing for some time and she was unable to read towards the end of her life, but that did not keep her from working for the magazine.

Begum, the paper, made a mark among women soon after its publication in 1947. It was the first weekly for women not only in Bangladesh but also in the entire Indian subcontinent.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has recounted the magazine’s contribution to women’s awakening in Bangladesh.

President Md Abdul Hamid has described Nurjahan’s passing away as an irreparable loss.

Many of Bangladesh’s women writers were groomed at Begum. Author Farida Akhter, who herself is involved in editing, has recalled the paper’s role in furthering women’s awareness.

The genesis of the magazine goes back to Nurjahan’s father, Mohammad Nasiruddin, himself an editor of considerable repute.

Nurjahan was born at the Chalitatoli village in Chandpur in 1925. Nasiruddin had by then become well-known by virtue of the ‘Saogat’ magazine, published from Kolkata, since 1918.

To provide women a platform for literary pursuits, Nasiruddin invited poet Begum Sufia Kamal to start a women’s section in Saogat.

But inadequacy of space prompted him to consider starting a magazine exclusively for women. This led to the publication of the weekly Begum from Kolkata on Jul 20, 1947.

“Father used to say publishing women’s writings and pictures once a year will not help them progress. They need a weekly,” Nurjahan Begum once said, putting the paper’s birth in perspective.

Nasiruddin got an enthusiastic response from Sufia Kamal when he broached the idea.

“Father told her, ‘Nurjahan is still in college. It would not be proper to make her the editor just yet. Can I use your name?’ Khalamma (Sufia Kamal) happily said, ‘I will help as much as I can. Please go ahead’.”

Nurjahan had then just completed her higher studies from Kolkata’s Lady Brabourne College and started as the weekly’s ‘Acting Editor’ alongside Sufia Kamal.

In the weekly’s debut editorial, Sufia Kamal had written: “Respectable people say the prime responsibility of building a nation rests on women. The observation is undeniable, and if we are to fulfil this difficult task, we must admit we cannot shut our eyes to anything in the world. We want to mould ourselves as true women in the arts and science, and domestic work to rearing children.”

Begum’s first Eid issue, in 1948, carried writings by 62 women along with their photos on imitation art paper. The issue had 62 advertisements, and was prices Rs 2.

After the partition of India in August 1947, Sufia Kamal shifted to Dhaka and Nurjahan assumed the paper’s editorship, just four months into its publication.

Nasiruddin, too, left Kolkata and came over to Dhaka in 1950. Since then, Begum was published from here, edited by Nurjahan.

She got married to Rokonuzzaman Khan around that time. He husband remained busy with journalism and children’s organisation, Kochikachar Mela, while she devoted herself to Begum.

She faced many obstacles in publishing a women’s magazine in Dhaka’s conservative society but remained undeterred.

The magazine published articles on a broad spectrum of subjects such as women’s awakening, combating superstition, portraits of ostracised rural women, family planning, and letters by women writing in from distant villages. Nurjahan Begum herself wrote little but was untiring in encouraging new writers to contribute and keep up the flow.

She was awarded the Begum Rokya Padak in 1997 for her contribution to women’s literacy and literature, besides being honoured by various organisations.

Nurjahan had two daughters but she was attached to the magazine as if it was her third offspring.

Elder daughter Flora Nasrin, who has done her Master’s in English, shared her mother’s responsibility in editing the paper. Younger daughter Rina Yasmin Bithi, too, helped out.

In the 1970s, Begum had struck a circulation of 22,000 but the number declined over time to 400 last year, Nurjahan had said in an interview.

Advertisements had dwindled, circulation had fallen drastically, and the publication itself had become irregular but Nurjahan had sold landed property to unfailingly bring out the paper’s Eid issue.

All that Nurjahan ever wanted was Begum’s survival.