She pried open Dacca University doors for girls
THE results of board exams were declared recently and girls came out with flying colours. The results of the Civil Services exams also saw girls grabbing many top positions. Alongside, the ongoing admission process in various colleges and universities saw long queues of girls, which has become a common sight. It is testimony to the fact that girls’ education in India has come a long way from the time when leave aside securing meritorious positions in an exam, even getting admission in institutions desired by girls was a distant dream for them. However, despite these discriminatory hindrances, there was no dearth of resolute women in that era, too. One of them was Leela Roy.
Born in 1900 in Assam to a family which hailed from Dacca (Dhaka) of undivided India, Leela was academically brilliant. After graduation from the reputed Bethune College of Calcutta, she decided to pursue her postgraduation in English from the newly established Dacca University in 1923. The university, which was not yet open to girls, denied admission to her. She had to fight a battle with the authorities to secure admission. She approached the Vice-Chancellor, asking him to enable co-education. It was due to her tenacious efforts that the university opened its gates to women as well. Thus, Leela Roy became the first female to study in the university.
To the best of her ability, she made sure that no other woman faced the kind of hindrance in education that she had. Leela went on to establish many educational institutes for women and emerged as a pioneer educationist and social activist of her time. She contributed a great deal towards giving wings to many young women of the period, when the phrase ‘woman’s empowerment’ was probably not even tossed around. Leela did not stop at that. She broke many other stereotypes and gender barriers. By joining the all-male revolutionary party ‘Shree Sangha’ in 1926, she challenged the conventional notion that in the fight for freedom against the British, women were most suited for spinning or weaving khadi and picketing of foreign cloth and liquor shops. She advocated an unconfined and extensive participation of women in the freedom movement and rejected the traditional demarcation of masculine and feminine roles, which she perceived merely as social constructs. Under her influence, women’s participation in active politics increased.
The trailblazing courage and determination exhibited by women throughout history have paved the way for opportunities for the present lot of girls, who, in turn, work to widen the horizons for the future generations. Today, the growing awareness and acceptance surrounding female education has resulted in the emergence of women in domains that were earlier considered out of bounds for them.
