Khurshida Akter, a name of a patient who is struggling for life around last 20 days in Dhaka Medical Hospital in Bangladesh. She had major brain stroke while in her husband’s village home in Madaripur district. She has two minor sons who are studying in village school.
Khurshida is a simple lady who came of an ordinary peasant family from Titas Thana Comilla. She is below 50 with an excellent background of organizing peasants and peasant women in the rural area in Bangladesh.
She started working with Bangladesh Krishok Federation in 1988. Later she joined Bangladesh Kishani Sabha when established in 1990. In 1993 she was elected as General Secretary of Bangladesh Kishani Sabha in view of her courageous role within organization. In 2004 in the National Conference held in Dhaka she was made President of Bangladesh Kishani Sabha.
She had no academic education but was self-educated. Her charismatic and oratory power brought in huge optimism among the peasant women in rural Bangladesh. She was much capable to meet up the rural women and share their agonies easily. She tried to stand by the peasant women and peasants during their disaster period with relief stuff at different times. She attended many rallies, processions, encirclement, hunger strike and hunger strike to death for the cause of farmers and rural women.
She was committed to asserting 14-point charter of demands campaigned by Bangladesh Kishani Sabha which is in relation to rights of women as whole. As for example, she believes in equal right of men and women in society, abolition of dowry system and child marriage, equal right to inherited property for both men and women, equal wage for men and women workers, economic empowerment of women, abolition of repression on women by male, diminishing the patriarchy society, etc.
Thanks to her organization she visited different countries, such as Brazil, India, France, and Nepal. Although she holds the highest post of the organization she never maintained any luxury life which is also not the organizational philosophy. There were lots of ups and downs in the organizational process like others but she never deviated from her ideological position. She was not convinced with any material offer by anyone.
Her husband is a simple security guard. But she was always happy with him and tried to adjust all the times.
That is Khurshida Akter who is lying in the hospital in coma for days. Her husband gave up his job in order to take care of her. He has spent all of his savings for the treatment of Khurshida. Now he is in a fix on what to do. He is asking support from the organization but the organization is facing financial hardship and constraint for years due to various reasons. Yet it is essential to save her life. The doctors in hospital are not much optimistic about her recovery. But as human being we can not be hopeless as we witnessed many recoveries from the worst declaration of the doctors. In case of Khurshida she can open her eyes but can not move and speak. So we can not be pessimist about her life. We need to find improved and better treatment for her.
Which is why, we need to get support from all sympathetic people in society. It is estimated that she needs at least Tk. 500,000 for improved treatment. If any one is interested in supporting her please contact the e-mail: gip dhalka.net or mobile: +8801714010713.
Bangladesh Kishani Sabha – BKS
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