Begum Rokeya's sculpture unveiled in Rangpur

Amid anti-sculpture stance of a section of Islamic clerics in the country, a sculpture of Begum Rokeya titled 'Alokbortika' was unveiled in Rangpur city on Wednesday.

She was a pioneer of women's renaissance and liberation in our country.Bangladesh observes Wednesday every year as the Rokeya Day. Anik Reza, the sculptor of 'Alokbortika' uncovered it at 11 in the morning through a program.

Writer Rezaul Karim Mukul, senior journalist Liakot Ali Badol, poet Professor Shah Sultan Talukdar, Associate Professor Mahfizul Alam Sujan, Assistant Professor Azahar Ali Dulal, Assistant Professor A.I.M Musa, Assistant Professor Anima Bormon and poet and publisher Masud Rana Shakil, among others, spoke at the program. The sculpture was built with the financial support of Rangpur City Corporation.  It is 20 feet high from the ground. However, the main structure of Begum Rokeya is 12 feet high. It cost Taka 15 lakh.

Begum Rokeya was born on 9 December in 1880 and died on 9 December in 1932. She was a Bengali feminist, thinker, writer and educator. She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's liberation in South Asia.She advocated for men and women to be treated equally as rational beings, noting that the lack of education for women was responsible for their inferior economic position.

---Mizanur Rahman, Ranjpur