I believe feminist parenting is more than gender diversity, body image, autonomy, and sexualization (all important issues, no doubt). Not only in my village, but in my whole country.As a self-proclaimed feminist parent, I strive to raise my child-and those in my village-guided by the feminist ideals of respect, equality, and social justice. But she would just continue with her door-to-door campaign.” Asked what she dreams of, Razia says, “I’d like to see the end of child labour. I too would tell her she was hardly responsible for the whole village – she should just sit and home and study. She would persist in visiting families and telling them about the importance of sending children to school. Farman, Razia’s proud father, says, “People would shoo her away at first. When I gave birth to Razia, I was determined not to let her live my fate,” her mother says. My brothers went to school, and are now working as teachers. Asked what keeps her so motivated, Razia points to her mother, Zahida. “I spend two hours each day offering tuitions,” she says. On any day, ‘Razia didi’ is surrounded by kids. Now, however, she is back again, teaching young girls in her village. That had caused a disruption in her teaching schedule in the village. To take tuitions for the AIPMT examination, Razia had moved to Kota in Rajasthan last year. Only about 50,000 will actually make it to medical school. When they saw changes in the children with education, though, they had other reasons too to keep girls in school,” says Razia, who was among the over six lakh students who took the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) this year. In the beginning, it was the prospect of money that made parents allow girls to go to school. I told them the girls would earn much more once educated, than they ever would by stitching footballs.
I would sit with the parents for hours on end. How did Razia, who hopes to become a doctor, manage to convince the girls to get an education? “It was very difficult initially. At the end of the day, one kid is not likely to stitch more than four footballs. Each football that is stitched fetches Rs 5. Nanglakhumba village is populated mostly by labourers.
It is thanks to her efforts that 63 girls from the village have been drawn into schooling. That is what made her even more determined.” Like Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani girl who continued her education and encouraged other girls like her despite opposition from the Taliban, eventually winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, Razia Sultana has worked consistently to encourage girls and their families to see the value of education. She was elected the Bal Pradhan of her village, under a campaign by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan. She was persistent in her desire to study. Mukesh, who uses only his first name, and has earlier been a member of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, said, “Razia was nine when I first met her. Two years ago, she was the world’s first winner of the UN’s Malala Award, offered for the promotion of education. Razia Sultana comes from a family of labourers in Nanglakhumba village, 35 km from Meerut city. She has seen much struggle, but her dimpled smile hides it all. Seventeen-year-old Razia Sultana is a picture of girlish grace, dressed in a black salwar kameez, with a dupatta neatly draped over her head. Nanglakhumba, Meerut: She is named after the only woman ruler of the Sultanate and Mughal era.
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