Sufia Kamal

Bangladeshi feminist leader who co-founded the All Pakistan Women's Association and fought for women's education during British colonial rule.

Sufia Kamal (1909–1999) was a trailblazing Bangladeshi educator and activist whose work laid the foundation for modern women's rights in South Asia. Born into a conservative Bengali family, she defied societal norms by graduating from Dhaka University in 1932, becoming one of the first Muslim women to earn a degree in English literature.

In 1936, she co-founded the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA), which pioneered adult literacy programs and shelters for abused women. Her 1947 petition to Pakistan's Constituent Assembly secured the right for women to vote and stand for office, a victory later reversed under military rule. She organized the historic 1952 Dhaka protests demanding Bengali language rights, linking gender equality to national identity.

As a member of Pakistan's first Senate (1955–1960), Kamal pushed for laws banning child marriage and promoting women's access to higher education. Her 1963 book Women's Liberation in Islam argued for gender equality within religious frameworks, influencing later feminist theologians. Despite suffering imprisonment during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, she continued advocating for women's roles in post-war reconstruction.

Today, the Sufia Kamal Women's College in Dhaka (www.sufiakamalcollege.edu.bd) bears her name, educating over 2,000 students annually. Her handwritten letters to Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore, preserved in the National Archives of India, reveal her transnational feminist network. Modern scholars credit her with creating Bangladesh's first female-led political party, the Bangladesh Jatiya Mohila Samity, which remains active today.