bdmetronews Desk ॥ The Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI), a non–partisan research and advocacy group of independent scholars based in the United States, is pleased to announce that Dr. Hameeda Hossainis the recipient of the 2021 BDI Lifetime Achievement Award.
Established in 2012, this award is designed “to honor outstanding individuals or organizations who, through their scholarly and/or policy and civic engagements, have contributed significantly to understanding the challenges, andthe ideals that have led to the development of Bangladesh and have improved the quality of life for its citizens.”
Through the award, the Executive Committee of the BDI recognizes and celebrates the work of a scholar or institution of high reputation and integrity whose work has inspired others to develop and implement ideas for the betterment of the people of Bangladesh. This year, the BDI selection committee has determined that throughout her long and distinguished career, Dr. Hossain has embodied the ideals of BDI by employing her knowledge, talents, time, and skills to work tirelessly to improve the lives of the poor and marginalized in Bangladeshi society.At the age of 15, she won an essay competition sponsored by the New York Herald Tribuneon the subject of “The World We Want”.
The prize was a three–month tour of the United States. It is no exaggeration to say that Dr. Hossain has devoted her life to help create the world she wants, a world that takes seriously the needs of the most marginalized members of society. Born in Hyderabad, Sindh, in 1936, Dr. Hossain attended missionary schools in Karachi and Hyderabad.
Her father Abdullah Akhund was a judge in colonial India. Her grandmother established a clinic and shelter for the refugees who came to Pakistan from India following Partition in 1947.
Dr. Hossain studied literature and history as an undergraduate at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA. She received her doctorate in history from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Her thesis was published under the title of Company Weavers of Bengal Organization of Textile Production for the East India Company 1750–1813.Hameeda Hossain’s career has spanned publishing and editing, as well as crafts development and advocacy for women workers and human rights.
She began her professional life as an editor with Oxford University Press in Karachi. She helped to co–found the English language political monthly magazine, Forum, in the then East Pakistan in 1967. Forumplayed a critical role in raising awareness of the systemic inequities and discrimination suffered by the people of East Pakistan. Between 1968 and March 1971, she served as the magazine’s editor. After Bangladesh’s independence, she joined the University Press Limited in Dhaka as an editor. Following the 1971 Liberation War, Dr. Hossain became actively involved in the rehabilitation of the women survivors of wartime sexual violence.
Her efforts to develop and market local artisanal crafts led to the formation, in November 1974, of KARIKA –Bangladesh Hastashilpa Samabaya Federation Ltd. Dr. Hossain and her fellow volunteers established this pioneering craft cooperative run by artisans, including many survivors of wartime violence, with the objectives of putting the spotlight on the new nation’sancient culture and folk traditions and protecting the welfare of the artisans, the majority of whom were women.Inspired by her work with artisans, she chose to write her doctoral dissertation at Oxford on the history of weavers in colonial Bengal, under the supervision of Tapan Raychaudhuri.
She has published widely on a variety of topics, including women’s experiences of the war, arts and crafts, the ready–made garment industry, women workers and human rights. Her publications in these subjects include No Better Option? Industrial Women Workers in Bangladesh, (1990, UPL, co–authored with Salma Sobhan and RoushanJahan); The Company Weavers of Bengal: The East India Company and the Organization of Textile Production in Bengal, 1750–1813(2010, UPL, and Oxford University Press, Delhi); and Of the Nation Born: The Bangladesh Papers(2016, Zubaan Books, co–edited with Amena Mohsin). She has also published numerous articles, chapters in edited volumes, and op–ed articles.Hameeda Hossain has attended major international women’s events in her capacity as a women’s rights activist, including the inaugural UN Conference for Women in Mexico City in 1975.
Since her participation in the International Women’s Convention in Nairobi she has been associated with several women’s and human rights networks in the South, such as Asia Pacific Women, Law and Development, a network of feminist scholars, researchers and activists from the Global South working for economic and gender justice and sustainable and democratic development and South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR).
In 2004 she co–authored Bangladesh’s Shadow Report for CEDAW and in 2010, the UN CEDAWAlternative Report on Bangladesh.Dr. Hossain has been an unflagging advocate for workers’ and human rights. She has been consistently aligned with progressive causes and efforts, particularly on issues relating to secularism, civil liberties and economic justice. As a founder member and founder chairperson of Ain o Salish Kendra(a legal aid and human rights organization founded in 1986), she assumed responsibility for its research and advocacy programs. Between 1996 and 2006, she edited its invaluable annual reports on human rights in Bangladesh.
She is currently convener of the Sramik Nirapotta Forum(Workers’ Safety Forum), an informal network of NGOs promoting workers’ rights. Since 2002, she served as vice–chairperson of Research Initiatives Bangladesh, which describes itself as an organization that seeks to “support research aimed at identifying strategies and programs that could ensure sustainable, progressive alleviation of poverty in Bangladesh.”
She is also a Member, Board of Trustees, of the Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Foundationwhichis dedicated to the “search for intellectual excellence”.Dr. Hameeda Hossain has been a witness to and a participant in the changing role of women in Bangladesh’s economic and political life for over half a century. She continues to work across generations, bringing her secular and democratic lens to the feminist movement in Bangladesh.
The 2021 BDI Lifetime Achievement Award will be formally presented at BDI’s next international conference. As the recipient of this award, Dr. Hameeda Hossain will be invited to offer a lecture on a subject of her choice. For additional information on BDI and its mission, please visit www.bdiusa.orgor contact Dr. Munir Quddus, President, BDI (muquddus@pvamu.edu).
