This was in late 1995. Khairunnisa was 24 years old then and had studied only until grade five.[break] She was reluctant to take the job. How could she carry such a big responsibility and work among those women who ‘knew society well’, was all that she thought.
However, it was not in her nature to run from responsibility and challenges.
“Ok, I will do what needs to be done for the society,” she said. This determination of hers was to change the face of Belghari forever. And those women who had run from their social responsibility then have now joined hands with her.
FIRST RESPONSIBILITY: FAMILY PLANNING
After becoming a health volunteer, Khairunnisa’s first responsibility was to promote family planning service at the local level. A number of people in Muslim community consider family planning a ‘religious crime’. This belief was more rigid one and half decades back in Belghari. Khairunnisa faced much hardship in running the campaign.
“Some women knew that they had to take Depo injection, but who had the guts to take it then?” Khairunnisa, now 39, said recalling the past days.
“I started the campaign for family planning under those circumstances and went around sharing my knowledge on the subject,’ she added.
She led the social movement by first taking the three-month Depo-Provera injection in public herself. Her courage encouraged other women of the village. But men were enraged and many women following Khairunnisa took a step back.
The gutsy woman then thought of another idea. Every woman would take her husband into confidence. “I thought if women could convince their husbands that there is no connection between religion and temporary family planning measures, the campaign would be successful,” Khairunnisa said about her success story.
Her plan worked. Some 275 women of the village took Depo and started using other family planning measures without hesitation. Belghari is now promoting itself as the village with the slogan of ‘Small family, happy family village’. There are 155 households in this village.
“Had she not struggled, we would still be subjugated to baby producing machines,” Sokara Bibi, a local, said, adding, “She has a big role in bringing happiness in the homes of Belghari.”
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The campaign that started from family planning did not end in the health sector alone. Khairunnisa is as active in other sectors like education, environment, finance and issues of social concerns as she was in health. She is wholeheartedly involved in ending violence against women and in social ills like divorce (talak in Muslim communities), child-marriage and multiple marriages.
The biggest violence against women in Muslim community is verbal talak and in recent times women in Belghari have united against this practice under which a male can simply divorce his wife by uttering the word talak thrice in succession. The women have joined Khairunnisa in forwarding the slogan of ‘No women can be left in lurch in the name of religion’.
Under Khairunnisa’s leadership, the Muslim Women’s Group sent a 14-point demand letter to the Constituent Assembly (CA) through a local CA member, which includes call for end of existing talak system as well. Under her initiate, there has been no such talak case in the villages in the past two years.
“Two males in the village were giving talaks to their wives. But we interfered and the incident was put to rest,” Khairunnisa said.
She argued that divorce must be validated by law even if Muslims can seek talak in religious terms.
In her efforts to seek justice for women, men have, however, turned hostile towards Khairunnisa. But it has not weakened her conviction or resolve. She does not hesitate to fight against her own male neighbor to give justice to a woman he married from far away land for instance.
In one such case, Khairunnisa gave shelter to a divorcee woman from Kohalpur for 10 days and got her citizenship from her husband. That woman’s husband had denied her and their daughter property and citizenship rights.
“Although some men in my village are angry with me over this case, I feel I have done the right thing by helping a helpless woman,” she said.
KHAIRUNNISA’S POPULARITY
“If you were in my country you would be a member of parliament,” a visiting UK parliamentarian, John Battle, had once remarked to Khairunnisa on his official visit to Nepal few months back.
Khairunnisa was taken aback by his comment. Battle had commented this after learning about Khairunnisa’s contribution in social transformation in her village.
As she understood the problems of women, it is natural that Khairunnisa is very popular among womenfolk. In Belghari even now there are men who feel that Khairunnisa must face social boycott, but their wives blindly follow Khairunnisa.
“This is all because of her behavior,” Tasiman Babi, President of Muslim Women’s Group, said, adding, “She loves all of us and takes us with her everywhere she goes. That is why we like her.”
Even when there was all round pressure on Khairunnisa to become the president of the Muslim Women’s Group, she made Tasiman the president as Khairunnisa said that all other Muslim women too must take a lead role.
Last year, a campaign ‘Mutthi Abhiyan’ was launched to operate local Madrasa Madina School and Khairunnisa was chosen to lead it by the men of the community. But this campaign did not last long. Khairunnisa resigned saying there was no financial transparency as men were selling rice collected by women. The male members could not run the campaign anymore on their own.
Then there came a time when the community could not even pay the maulana (priest) of the mosque. Then all the responsibility of the ‘Mutthi Abahiyan’ was handed over to the women again.
At present, every household donates two fistful of rice daily which amounts to two kg rice per household in a month. The rice is sold in the market which fetch Rs 10,000 to be in turn given to the priest as the monthly salary.
All this is a result of Khairunnisa’s activism. In comparison, the women of Belghari are much more motivated then men in this village as every social program is spearheaded by women and always seen in the forefront is Khairunnisa.
STRUGGLE CONTINUES
Although Khairunnisa is liked by all, there is no shortage of people backbiting about her. Some men cannot even tolerate to hear her name. Some ‘senior’ members of the community criticize her when newspapers report on her bravery and initiatives. They question, “Whatever you have done you have already done, why do you have to act smart and publish it in the newspapers?” They are of the view that publishing news of social change in their community amounts to disrespect to Islam.
She faced many instances like these during her struggle. But now she is not alone in her fight for social transformation as whenever someone raises their finger at Khairunnisa all other women unite to defend her.
“Since I have done nothing wrong, I have no fear,” she added.
The Alba Ratna Prize along with cash prize of Rs 50,000 which she received two months back has encouraged her to continue her social work. Earlier last year, she was also announced first among 920 women health volunteers.
“If one is right, he/she does not have to even fear Allah, why be scared of human beings?” the bold Khairunnisa said.
She added, “My husband Ishak Bin and the womenfolk’s support is key to my campaign. So long as they are with me, my journey will not end.”
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