Omema Akhtar: An Exploratory Essay

Omema Akhtar was recounting her Grandmother Zahida Bano’s story. She mentioned that during the time of the partition Zahida was around 13 years old and her father was a judge in Agra. Zahida got married just a few days before the partition to a man named ---, his step mother was a Bengali Hindu woman called Bismillah apa but his father was a Bengali Muslim. Zahida’s family found out about the partition from her father as he was a judge and heard the news from his colleagues. Zahida used to love writing stories in Urdu and was also a part of a movement where women were asked to make banners and display them in public in a burqa (dress covering the body). She also wrote multiple stories and motivating texts which were published in magazines,

These people gave them a small apartment near Pakistan Chowk. The apartment had one bedroom and a lounge with an open bathroom. The bathroom had no sanitation and 18 people used to live in one small apartment. It was very hard for the women to use this washroom, by this time the father in law was also in Pakistan. The family then decided to start a printing press like one they had in Chittagong. The government also helped them in setting up this business. Zahida started her own madarsa where she would teach children Quran free of cost. Her husband also learned the Quran from her as he had never been taught the Quran by his Hindu mother. Zahida was actually upset at the start as she had left her friends and family behind and because she missed her home and when she found out about the brutality that people had to suffer she used to think that this decision was wrong as so many people died but after living in Pakistan she realised that this was actually a good thing for the Muslims as they would no longer had to live with Hindus and would have freedom to practice their own religion and live their lives